In Love and War
by JadeDragonMTR
Summary: This story roughly follows ME 1. Some events get changed from canon, others get invented. It's a love story in the backdrop of war. How far is Shepard willing to go to get her girl? Main pairing is FemShep and Liara. Commander Shepard, Paragon, War Hero, Spacer.
1. Chapter 1 Eden Prime

**In Love and War**

**Chapter One – Eden Prime**

The sky above Eden Prime had turned reddish orange as dusk lingered. The imposing alien ship that had brought destruction to this idealistic human colony left orbit and for a moment, everything seemed quiet as though no firefights had happened and nobody had died just hours before. Exhausted from the day's fighting and pushing forward the minute they landed on the planet, Shepard took off her N7 helmet and allowed herself a moment to breathe and to take in the sight of the beautiful horizon. Natural beauty always managed to catch her by surprise. She grew up on spaceships and spaceports that were built with generic steel and concrete and space stations with artificial time, air and even weather. She enjoyed watching the artificial rain on the Citadel, especially standing at certain spots on the Presidium and feeling the purified water washing down the dust and dirty air. And seeing everything shiny again and breathing in the clean air, she often felt more alive. But natural beauty affected her differently. It made her heart stop a beat and her breath catch.

Shepard looked up at the sky above Eden Prime as she walked toward the Prothean beacon they were sent to investigate. She heard footsteps behind her; Shepard could clearly tell the difference between the sounds Ashley Williams' boots made and the ones of Richard Jenkins'.

Jenkins. She hadn't known him for long, but she knew him enough to feel the emptiness in her stomach when she saw his expressionless face and vacant eyes as he was lying there on the land that nurtured him. He told her all about Eden Prime where he grew up just before their mission, barely containing his excitement and pride when he described how the environmental engineers had used local resources to create a self sustaining colony that included a good sized city and several outskirt settlements. He was also hoping that the Normandy would stay for a few days, because he'd got a girl here who he had dated before the assignment on the Normandy, and if he was lucky he might get to see her.

Oddly Shepard felt worse for the girl who'd get the news that her boyfriend would never come home and hold her in his arms again than for the man who died. A native son giving his life defending his homeland, there was an indescribable honor in that. Jenkins knew that and he would have been proud. But her family and friends wouldn't see it that way.

Shepard came to the edge of the train platform and now had a full view of the city below the hills. The black smoke brought her thoughts back to the day's events.

_What was that ship and what did Saren want?_

"Hey Commander, there's the beacon." Lt. Kaidan Alenko pointed at the large square below the train platform.

"It doesn't look much." Ashley stared at the beacon for a moment and then started scanning the area for anything unusual. She was a good soldier, Shepard thought, noticing Ashley's habit of scanning her surroundings every time Shepard did the same thing. Before the geth and husk stragglers even heard their footsteps, both Shepard and Ashley had already put a dozen bullets into them while Alenko readied his biotics aiming at the last remaining geth.

The Normandy

Shepard woke up in the med bay with a pounding headache. "W…What happened?" As she sat up from the bio bed, Doctor Chakwas moved closer and put a hand on Shepard's forearm. "You gave us quite a scare, Commander." Doctor's warm hand felt nice on her bare forearm that'd been cooled by the metal bio bed.

Shepard hadn't been serving on the Normandy for more than a couple months, but she already felt that she could make this work. She loved the ship not only because it had the best stealth system, one of the fastest FTL drive core designs, the most advanced and different CIC and the state of the art med bay, but also because she felt she fit in with the crew. She'd known Anderson for a long time and felt comfortable around him, and she knew what he expected of her. The first new friend she made on the Normandy was the ship's doctor, Karen Chakwas, whose confident yet quiet demeanor reminded her of her own mother.

Shepard recalled one of their first meetings. She'd been burned on her forearm while helping Engineer Adams on a weekly exhaust waste cleaning detail not long after she came onboard, and one of the tubes had a puncture and leaked hot chemicals onto her arm. Adams was shocked at Shepard's request to go with him on this detail that he usually sent one of his guys to perform. But she said she wanted to learn everything about the ship, and getting a hands-on was the best way to do it. He offered to accompany Shepard to the med bay after the injury, but Shepard insisted on completing the detail first and on her way to the med bay she got hung up on another matter that needed her attention. By the time she made it to the med bay, Dr. Chakwas had a stern look on her face, "I was about to send an MP detail to fetch you, Commander." She immediate sat Shepard down on one of the bio beds and started scanning the wound. It was during that treatment and several follow up visits after, Shepard learned that Karen Chakwas had served on almost as many ships as her mother.

"You like being on a ship, doctor?" Shepard could see the telltale signs of a seasoned spaceship breed.

"Sure, Commander. When I first came out of med school, I wanted to see the galaxy. Every ship was exciting and every mission exhilarating. As I got older, I grew to like the people I served with." Karen had read Shepard's files that Anderson forwarded, and she knew she had a "spacer rat" on her hands.

"It's like they become your home after a while." Shepard said, smiling.

"Indeed. I served on one of the dreadnaughts for nearly a decade, and I was the godmother for several children I helped delivered." Karen said, lost in her thoughts. "The only thing that's hard is losing people that you know well. Even after you know you've done everything for them, they still don't make it. You go over their charts, scan results and your own actions even long after their bodies are resting in the morgue." She shook her head as though to get herself out of the memories she didn't wish to share with the young Commander who always seemed to have inquisitive eyes. She put the smile back on her face, "But the joy of being around talented crew and colorful Marines is it keeps me young."

The more she talked with the medical doctor, the more Shepard saw her mother in her. "Oh, yeah? You like being with us jarheads then?" She quipped.

"Oh, Commander. If the person who invented the term 'jarhead' had met you, he'd have come up with another term." The doctor laughed.

"Careful, doc. You're starting to sound like my mother."

Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko's voice pulled Shepard out from her reveries. He spoke after Dr. Chakwas stepped back to give Shepard some space to stand up. "It was my fault, Commander. When I got too close to the beacon, somehow it got activated. After it exploded and knocked you out cold, Williams and I had to carry you back." Shepard raised her eyebrows at Kaidan, and the lieutenant added. "Well, we did a divide and conquer. I carried your ass and Ashley carried all your weapons. But it was my fault."

Shepard stepped down and tested her balance. When she straightened her back, she looked at Kaidan with a cocky smile, "Lieutenant, unless you actually touched my ass, this isn't your fault."

Shepard liked Kaidan. He was very easy to like. Kaidan was only a couple of years older than her, and like Shepard, he grew up on ships and followed in his parents' footsteps by joining the Alliance. They hit it off the first time they sat down and talked.

"You were on the Moon's training base too? You've had the pleasure of working with Sargent Mills?" Kaidan smiled easily.

"Sure, I was Sargent Mills favorite. He gave me more than he gave anybody else." Shepard kept a straight face, "Oh, yeah. More hours running on the indoor tracks, more details cleaning the head, more programs on the battle simulator… I bet you didn't know he was a such giving person, did you?" Kaidan burst out laughing as Shepard smiled brightly.

"Did you ever visit the Pod?" Kaidan was referring to an old escape pod salvaged by someone and dropped in one of the craters some time ago, just a couple of klicks away from the training base. The original owner of the Pod had taken out all the jump seats and put in a sleeping cot that was actually wide enough for two people.

"You mean the Love Pod?" Shepard raised one side of her mouth, remembering the giggles her bunkmate had after visiting the pod with a guy named Alan. If you got on the good side with the unit chief, he'd let you drive the Mako out unsupervised. And most Marines took the Mako to only one place outside the camp. "No. You?"

Kaidan didn't deny it, instead he asked, "Didn't you get bored?" He remembered the Love Pod very well, but love, it wasn't. Fun, it was.

Love Pod, Shepard smiled at the memory of her bunkmate and Alan's adventures at the Love Pod, as she walked out of the med bay and headed back to her quarters. The long day of trekking on Eden Prime had drained her completely, and the horrific images from the Prothean beacon weighed on her. She needed a shower, a hot one. Maybe it would take her mind off Jenkins, or at least let her forget the unwanted images replaying in her head like an old horror vid. She turned on the shower and peeled her sweaty under armor off. Staring at the sharply defined muscles on her legs she chuckled at the memory of Sargent Mills' signature mantra, "It only feels good when it burns!"

The truth was Shepard was too busy to be bored at the basic training camp. She was only half joking about the training Sargent Mills gave her when she was talking to Kaidan. She knew the reason why she was pushed harder than the others at the camp: she had an invitation from the N7 program and a letter from Alliance Propulsion Academy, both wanting her to join them after her time on the Moon's basic boot camp. Sargent Mills knew that and he did his best to prepare her the only way he knew how. The training was so exhausting that she slept most of the time when she wasn't performing her duties. But she also felt fulfilled, as she told her mother on their regular holocalls. "Honey, designing ships is very exciting too." Hannah was always very encouraging when it came to Shepard's pursuits. "You'd make a great design engineer, and you are also so gifted in computers, biology…"

"And history and xenology, yeah I know, mom." Shepard heard this speech before but she wanted more specific advice this time. "I think I'd learn so much in the Propulsion Academy. I read some of the professors' bios and even some of their books, and I have to say it intrigues me." Shepard always had an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. When she focused her interest on one thing, it became her obsession. Hannah enjoyed watching her daughter growing up with such a passion for knowledge, and she always tried to encourage her.

Hannah smiled with pride. "Do you remember when we were on the Logan, we had an engine cooling cluster failure and you went and got the manual for the correct pressure calibration and waved it under the nose of the lead engineer. He wouldn't have caught that miscalculation if you hadn't pointed him to the right direction, and you were what, 15 years old?" Shepard heard that story many times from Hannah.

"But with the N7 program, I get to see the galaxy and help people up close." Shepard debated more with herself than with her mother. "They get the best ships in the fleet, the best weapons and the best chances to work with other species. I see that as our future, mom, working as a part of the galactic community and learning from other species."

Hannah smiled again, "Honey, you always had a knack for getting along with other species. Remember when you were eight, we helped a quarian living ship with their supplies? I took you with me aboard to meet their children, and within an hour, you had them following you around their own ship and getting into places they weren't supposed to go?"

"I don't remember that." Shepard remembered the wonders of a living ship that was the size of a small colony, and the different colors of environmental suits the quarian kids wore. She had asked every question she could think of, and her new quarian friends answered every one of them eagerly. She had taught them her best hide and seek tricks, fort and spaceport and other children's games she knew. Oh, they had a great time!

The talk with her mother didn't help Shepard make her decision, but she lingered on the call for an extra hour. Time always escaped her when she talked to her mother. "I still have time to decide, mom. Don't you worry." But in the end, the battle on Elysium decided her path for her.

Turning off the shower, Shepard felt her aching muscles starting to relax. Looking into the mirror at the reflection of her naked body, she repeated. "It only feels good when it burns, Sargent!"

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**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews and PMs. All comments, reviews, suggestions and PMs are welcome.

To answer one of your questions: I realized that Ashley went to the same training camp with Shepard. But given the similar background, I thought Kaidan and Shepard would share the same training experience.


	2. Chapter 2 Therum

**In Love and War**

**Chapter Two – Therum**

After taking down the huge Geth Colossus and another drop of Geth Troopers outside of the Prothean dig site, Shepard's squad finally reached the large reinforced entrance. Kaidan punched in a few buttons, the door hissed open. A wave of hot air rushed at their faces with a smell of dirt marinated in sulfur, permeating every breath even through their helmets. Shepard led the way on a narrow catwalk, her assault rifle leveled and her eyes scanning. She hated room checks, the experience on Elysium still had its lasting effect. So she stayed on the main path that led to the ancient elevators while Wrex and Kaidan checked the rooms on either side of the corridor.

"Grab anything that's a data disk and Prothean looking things." Shepard instructed, but she didn't know what exactly they were looking for either. They were here for the Prothean expert, but what we could find in the dig site might help Shepard understand the Prothean expert's work and motivations. And after the encounter with the Prothean beacon on Eden Prime, Shepard had been reading about the dead race every free minute she had, including the works of Dr. Liara T'Soni. Her books and papers took a little bit of searching to find, but Shepard found them not only enjoyable to read but also impressed at the details the scientist had included in her works, every artifact and the time period it came from were explained with a theory that seemed more plausible with recent development.

_I can't believe she's alone in this place and doing all these digging._ She mused to herself, already an admiration growing for someone who was so dedicated to her work even though most people in the galaxy had no clue how the race that dominated the galaxy not so long ago lived and died.

Wrex only grunted and disappeared into the first room. As her teammates sifting through the contents in each room, Shepard walked back and forward in the corridors checking for any sign of trouble.

Kaidan came out of the last room holding a small case of data discs and attaching it to his belt. "That's the last room, Commander. Just how many levels does this place have?"

"Looks like that's the last of them. There is a big drop after this elevator." Shepard leaned over the railing to see what lay a level below them.

"I don't get what the attraction is in a place like this, it's dusty, smelly and filled with old stuff." Kaidan didn't seem to like room checks either.

Shepard smiled a bit, "Not a history buff, huh?"

The rest of the descent happened quickly as the trio discovered the main objective of their mission hanging half of a body length above in a security bubble. They quickly disposed of the geth left in the cave and bored their way through the wall with a mining laser to finally came to face to face, or rather face to back with Dr. Liara T'Soni, Matriarch Benezia's only daughter.

With no enemies in the immediate vicinity, Shepard took off her helmet and took a few breaths. She felt exhausted after fighting the geth sentries, and the endless troops and Colossus; but now came the real mission. Shepard walked to stand next to Liara who was till hanging in the air.

As Kaidan hit the round kinetic button on the console, Liara's body fell onto the floor, but she immediately tried to pick herself up with a noticeable struggle. Shepard saw her frowning and biting into her bottom lip as she tried to straighten her knees.

"You alright, Dr. T..." Before Shepard finished, the asari had lost the support of her legs and she pitched over with a light groan. Shepard quickly caught her by both of her arms and smoothly lowered her down. She unzipped the pocket hidden on the side compartment of her leg armor and pulled out a small water bottle.

"I am sorry, Commander. My legs are numb." Liara's voice had a slight panic tone as she used her teeth to take off her working gloves and started to pound on her legs.

"Wow, hey, hey." Shepard caught Liara's hand in mid-air. "If you've been hanging there for 2 days, your legs will need a little time to recover. Just give it a moment, okey?" Shepard lowered her head and looked into Liara's eyes. _She is so young!_ Shepard had expected finding someone older after reading her books and research papers, but Liara looked far younger. Shepard had to push down a wave of sympathy and concern when she looked at Liara. There was fear and exhaustion but also flickers of defiance in her eyes.

Liara leaned on Shepard slightly, grateful for the support. When Liara lowered her hand from pounding her legs, she started to shake a little. Her body suddenly realized it hadn't had anything to eat and drink for too long. Shepard quickly opened the water bottle and handed it to the asari. Liara accepted the bottle, fighting to steady her shaking hand, and she drained all the content. Shepard smiled a little, "Better?" Liara panted for a few breaths after drinking all the water in one breath, nodding her head as she gave the Commander a grateful smile.

"Lieutenant, call the Normandy to pick us up here. I don't think we can make it back to the pick up point as planned." Before he called the Normandy Kaidan offered, "Commander, do we need to get our new field medic down here to take a look at Dr. T'Soni?"

"Please, I am fine. I will be able to walk as soon as my legs return to me." Liara intercepted before Shepard could respond.

"You're sure?" Liara nodded again and tried to get up. "Easy." Shepard held her down, "Just a bit longer while we wait for our ship to come and pick us up."

When Shepard looked up again, Wrex was standing next to them. He handed Shepard a small blue colored tube. "Here, she can eat this to regain her strength." Shepard took the tube and examined it. "It's good for the biotics." Wrex explained.

Shepard smiled, "Wrex, you are full of surprises!"

"Oh, yeah? You haven't seen nothing yet." Wrex put his right hand back and pulled out a bunch of tubes in various colors from some compartment in his back armor. "The green one is good for basically everybody, the blue one was the best for the biotics, and the red one, well, let's just say you've got to have a quad to suck that stuff down. They will give your stomach something to work on and your body more strength in long battles."

Shepard's eyes were wide and her smile even wider. "Good god, Wrex! You wouldn't happen to have a rack of BBQ ribs hiding behind there, would you?"

"Ha! I don't know what BBQ is, but if I had ribs of any kind, it'd be me who's eating them." He pushed a handful of tubes in front of Shepard and let she pick a green one in addition to the blue one he had given her earlier, then he stepped back and bit off the tip of a red tube and started to suck on it. Shepard shook her head, amazed at the savvy krogan who managed to surprise her once again.

She handed the green one to Liara, "I've never had these. It probably tastes horrible, but if Wrex says it will replenish your strength then I think you'd better have some. Let's start with the green one, maybe the blue one later if you can still take the taste."

As Shepard rambling on about the tubes, Liara looked like she was going to fall asleep. Shepard shook her arm gently, "Hey, Doctor?" Liara startled a little and fought to keep her eyes open and her head clear. Taking the green tube from the Commander, she struggled to open it as her hands started to shake again. "Here." Shepard took back the tube, bit off the top and started to squeeze the content into Liara's mouth. She saw the slight shock on the asari's face then she swore that she could see her blushing, Shepard squeezed the last content of the tube out and put it in Liara's hands so that she could eat it on her own, though Shepard kept a hand lightly on Liara's to keep them steady.

Just as Shepard ripped the top of the blue tube open, the whole cave shook violently. "What was that?" Kaidan looked up at the walls.

"Better get going, Shepard." Wrex's voice told her it was more than a suggestion.

Shepard gently helped Liara stand up, keeping a firm grip on her arm. They moved to the elevator and Kaidan punched buttons on the console. As the elevator took them up, Shepard walked over to Kaidan. "Give me your water bottle."

Kaidan unlocked his leg armor and handed Shepard his water bottle. "Happy to be your mule any time, Commander."

Shepard laughed at their private joke, at least this time Kaidan didn't have to haul her ass like he did on Eden Prime. "Lieutenant, I'm afraid this time we are all Dr. T'Soni's mules, including Wrex who apparently takes an entire Deli with him in the field."

Shepard walked back to Liara who did look better with less tired eyes and straighter shoulders. "I know you probably need more hydration, but we don't usually carry a lot of rations on this kind of planet drop missions. This will have to do until we get back to the ship." She handed the asari Kaidan's water bottle.

"Commander, you are too k…" Before Liara finished her thanks the elevator stopped at the top level, and as if on cue, the krogan Battlemaster and more Geth Troopers blocked their exit.

As the krogan Battlemaster made his threats, Shepard whispered to Liara, "Keep him busy talking." Then she turned to the krogan merc, "Give us a minute to consider your offer." She turned to Kaidan with her body blocking the view of the krogan. "Give me your grenades."

Kaidan reached for his belt pocket, "Here you go, your personal mule at your service."

Shepard took her own grenades out with as little movement as possible and armed the remote detonators. "Can you keep a biotic shield around the Doctor when the fighting starts?" Kaidan understood what Shepard was planning.

Shepard turned to Wrex, "I charge him in the middle, you charge him from the side behind that column."

Quickly glancing at the column, Wrex tried to keep his voice down. "I will charge him in the middle. Hiding behind a column isn't my way."

Shepard tipped her head closers to Wrex's large face, "My charging him is a decoy, your charging him is for the kill. I want you to kill him!"

Wrex's smile had almost a child-like glee, "I will kill him and then I will hurt him. I like your way, Shepard."

As Shepard turned to face Saren's agents, she heard Liara still talking.

"If I were to come with you, where would you take me?"

"To Saren's ship."

Shepard wondered how Liara was able to talk circles around the krogan but she gave the asari a nod. "Whatever you are looking for, you are not getting it from me." Liara said her final words to the krogan, now with a snarl on her face. Shepard quickly pushed Liara down behind her as Kaidan activated his biotic shield, and she accurately pitched four grenades at the Geth Troopers. The grenades were designed to stick to metal bulkheads, and Shepard's pitches would shame a lesser talented baseball pitcher. Once the grenades found their targets on the geth bodies, Shepard quickly activated them. Without missing a beat, she charged at the krogan Battlemaster. Seeing his shotgun going off, Shepard slid to the ground, catching only a few errand bullet fragments with her armor. This angered the krogan. Now Shepard was at his feet after sliding to avoid his powerful shotgun blast, the Battlemaster raised his weapon to use as a club and swung it down at the human with such a force that when Shepard rolled out of the way, the shotgun cracked the rocky ground and sent pieces of the weapon flying into the air. Shepard ignored the deep and fierce growl from her large opponent, and she jumped up in the air, kicking her right foot off the wall, then turning her body, and she landed on top of the Battlemaster. As she punched the krogan with her hands while holding on to him with her legs, she saw Wrex's large form coming in at an increasing speed. Shepard timed her jump to leave the krogan's large body, she wouldn't want to rob Wrex's pleasure of the 100 ways he had already planned to kill this worthy enemy and rip parts of his body to add to his mobile Deli collection.

Shepard had only a moment to look over at Kaidan and Liara, both crouching down surrounded by a purple energy shield. A corner of her eye caught energy beam from a geth rifle. _Damn it! I missed one._ The remaining Geth Trooperer came out behind a very tall stack of crates and started to advance on the crouching pair, rifle hissing as the energy beam trying to break the biotic shield. Shepard jumped down from the krogan and rolled on her head to kneel on one knee, at the same time she took out her shotgun and pulled the trigger as soon as it was leveled. The geth fell to its knees but kept shooting the rifle that sounded about to overheat. Shepard quickly pumped the shotgun and let out another round. This time a puff of smoke burst out of the machine's chest and blue greenish liquid started flowing out from the hole where the smoke came out. The geth dropped the rifle on the ground, as Shepard turned to check on Kaidan and Liara, their shield had changed color to deep blue.

She docked her shotgun back and walked toward Kaidan and Liara while Wrex shouted from behind her, "Shepard, which part do you prefer, the heart or the lung?"

Shepard shouted back without turning, "Just pick something good for me, Wrex! I trust you."

The biotic shield faded as she approached the pair still kneeling on the floor. Kaidan was holding Liara by her armpit. "My biotic field wasn't strong enough for the geth energy rifle. Liara pitched hers in, and I think that drained her energy."

The cave shook again, but this time, it wasn't a single tremor. Rocks started to come down from the walls and celling as multiple quakes hit. Shepard quickly grabbed Liara's other arm and all three of them started to run for the exit together. Wrex ran ahead, shotgun leveled, ready to take out anyone else that might block their exit. Liara tripped but Shepard and Kaidan recovered her immediately.

"Go, go, go!" Shepard shouted over loud booming sound the fallen rocks made when they hit the structure behind them.

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**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews and PMs. All comments, reviews, suggestions and PMs are welcome.


	3. Chapter 3 The Normandy

**In Love and War**

**Chapter Three – The Normandy**

After she and Kaidan half carried Liara to the med bay, Shepard paid a visit to Garrus and the Marine unit he had led on the ground to have a short debriefing. When Shepard and company left the Mako to search for Dr. T'Soni, she put Garrus in charge to clear out the remaining Geth Troopers with the help of a squad of Marines.

Garrus was putting a large bolt back onto the Mako's wheel. He turned as he saw Shepard approaching him. "Shepard, I'm glad Anderson realizes the need for more ground mobilization. Today's operation proves having two Makos comes in very handy." His eyes glimmered in the dark cargo hold.

After Captain Anderson put the Normandy under Shepard's command, he also insisted on adding more equipment and personnel. "Shepard, Eden Prime showed us Saren wasn't going to be an easy enemy. You are going to need more people. I'm getting you another squad of Marines, a field medic and I'm also getting you another Mako." Shepard was not happy how Anderson was removed from the Normandy and she voiced her opinion with both Ambassador Udina and Anderson. But in the end, the politicians won.

Looking at the excitement on the turian's face, Shepard smiled. "Yeah, thought you might like that. I told Anderson that you were an ambitious man and would only be glad to see your tank fleet grow."

"You know Shepard, this bulkhead is the only thing that separates the cargo hold and the storage zone. If we take it out, we can double our capacity for even more Makos." Garrus pointed at the bulkhead behind where Wrex was standing.

Seeing Shepard's eyes going wide, Garrus kept a straight face for a few moments, then his mouth went wide and mandibles shook a little. Shepard punched him on his arm lightly. "Good one, Garrus! You got me there." She laughed, not at all begrudging.

Garrus laughed louder than Shepard. "I did, didn't I?" Then his voice went back to leveled tone again. "With what we saw on Therum, I'm not half wrong to want more firepower. We don't know exactly what Saren has in store for us, but it's nothing weak. I only wish we had more than one ship going up against him and his fleet." Shepard and Garrus walked in matching steps toward the Marine unit waiting behind the Mako for debriefing. "You and me both, Garrus! You and me both."

Shepard didn't know many turians. She liked Nihlus, the way he carried himself was professional and confident, and a few words he ever shared were precise and to the point, even though they bugged the hell of Joker. But she hardly had time to get to know him before Saren shot the poor guy in the back. Garrus on the other hand was never stingy with his words, especially when you shared a drink with him. He could talk your ear off while drinking you under the table. Shepard had had first hand experience already. The first week Garrus came onboard the Normandy, Shepard had purposely acquired a highly sought after bottle of turian wine and invited Garrus to drink with her in the Starboard lounge. Garrus was in very good spirits. Shepard guessed that her recent purchase of the alcohol was a success.

Garrus told Shepard about his military service stories, C-Sec politics and his father who had a lot of influence within the Hierarchy. Shepard in turn shared her stories of fighting pirates and slavers while in both N7 services and on the ships she'd served. "One time, we ran into this slaver ship that was operated by humans. They weren't attacking colonies like the batarians, they'd send one person to some transport ship with low security, sabotage the ship to disable it, and call in the slaver's mother ship to grab everyone onboard." Shepard took a sip of the wine.

"Clever buggers." Garrus commented.

"You'll find out why they had to rely on their wits. So we boarded their ship after taking out their sorry defense shields, the guards at the docking port were a tough bunch. We fought for quite a while before taking them out and making our way to the front of the ship." Shepard had her feet up on the long sofa while Garrus leaned on the back of a chair across the table.

"At least they weren't torturing their captives. They kept them in a large locked room, gave them enough food to not starve them to death, but didn't let them wash. The room smelt so bad." Shepard shook her head at the memory, but then her eyes lit up again. "So we were getting pretty close to the captain's suite in the front of the ship, right? The guys guarding him were a bunch of wussies. We barely had to lift our rifles they just dropped theirs immediately. They didn't look much like fighters either. So we were clearing the rooms leading to the captain's, and we heard him shouting, 'what the hell is going on out there?' 'Guards, guards, drop your dicks and come in here and protect me!' He goes on and on."

Shepard took another sip. Garrus had moved to sit in the chair to refill his glass. "So we moved into the captain's room. This thin guy with a short fake blonde hair was standing on his bed and shouting at the top of his lungs. 'Who the fuck are you people?' 'What do you want from me?' He put on his battle visor, but upside down, so you could see the mic arm straight up in the air above his head. And then he shouted, 'why are you people walking on the celling? You'd better come down here so I can shoot you!' Then he pointed his shotgun at the ceiling and pulled the trigger, but nothing came out. 'What the fuck is wrong with my pistol?' His shotgun kept clicking but he kept pulling the trigger. So at this point, we all just stood there watching him running and tripping on his bed trying to shoot us. Finally my buddy next to me said, 'Hey, genius! You are firing a shotgun not a pistol. You need to reload your bullets, you dumb ass.' The captain pointed the shotgun barrels at his own face and looked at them for a minute, said something like 'that's why it didn't fire the last time,' and then he proceeded to flip open all the drawers in the room while still shouting at the top of his lungs 'where are my goddamn shotgun bullets!'"

Garrus laughed so hard he spat wine on the coffee table. "What an idiot! Was he on red sand?"

Shepard had to stop herself from laughing to reply. "High as a kite! One of my guys had to shoot him in the leg to shut him up."

"He deserved much worse." Garrus was mopping the wine with a napkin. "I hate slaver, I hate pirates and I hate mercs!" He took the rest of his drink in one gulp.

"Garrus, you hate anyone who puts their little toe across the line!" Shepard retorted.

"True, I hate anyone who breaks the law, but not for the sake of the law." He looked at the Shepard who nodded in agreement.

"We took our jobs to help people, am I right?"

"Absolutely." Garrus was content with his tasty wine and good company.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Shepard got back to the med bay, she found Liara resting peacefully on one of the bio beds. Dr. Chakwas walked over and whispered, "She is resting now. I'm giving her drips to replenish everything her body needs to recover. Normally it'll only take a couple of days for her to regain her strength and she'll be as good as new. But it was unwise to use her biotics in the stage her body was in, and the side effects of that remain to be seen. I'll have to keep a close eye on her."

"It was my fault. I should have spotted the geth hiding behind a bunch of crates. She wouldn't have had to use her biotics if I had seen it." Shepard hung her head, remembering how fragile Liara looked when she and Kaidan took her out of the cave.

Karen Chakwas grabb her arm to lead her to her desk, Shepard hissed and held her left arm with her right hand. Dr. Chakwas immediate took her hand off, seeing blood on her fingers. "Commander, were you even going to tell me that you were injured?" She gave Shepard an unhappy look and started cutting her shirt. "How did this happen?"

"A krogan Battlemaster got me with a shotgun when I charged him." Shepard looked at the wound now that nothing was blocking the view. A small bullet was lodged in the muscles just above the crook of her elbow.

"You charged a krogan Battlemaster head on?" Dr. Chakwas shook her head. "You do carry guns, don't you Commander?"

"Yeah, but it would take too long to take him down that way. Besides, Wrex was the one that was going to kill him. I was just his human decoy." She smiled innocently. Dr. Chakwas lost her steam to scold the young woman.

"Doc, only local anesthesia, OK? I've got lots to do still."

After Doctor Chakwas finished with her arm, Shepard promised to come in for follow up visits. She walked over to check on the sleeping asari. She had been thinking about Liara ever since coming back on the ship. In her mind, she replayed the events on Therum after they found the Prothean expert over and over, trying to see any sign of deceit and betrayal, but she couldn't find any. _It won't be fun when I bring her back to the Citadel to face the politicians._ The thought made her cringe.

Shepard looked at Liara's face – she'd never seen such a beautiful asari face before. Shepard had attended a week of training with an asari commando squad back when she was in the N7 program. It took her a few days before she could distinguish different faces in a new species. At first she tried to use facial markings to remember the squad members, but after chatting with her new found friends, their animated expressions and different ways they waved their hands gave away who they were right away. Shepard could even recognize each asari by the sound of their voice near the end of the week. Staring at Liara's face, Shepard resisted the urge to touch it. _None of the commandos looked this striking._

Shepard turned to leave the med bay as Lt. Pierce walked in with a stack of bio bed sheets. "Ma'am." She gave Shepard a nod.

"Pierce, you settled in alright?" Shepard said softly, not wanting to disturb Liara. "I haven't had time to chat since you guys came onboard. We should do that soon."

"Of course, Commander. Any time you wish." Pierce seemed a bit nervous.

Shepard smiled at her, "Would you get two sets of working blues, no bars needed, and drop them off in my quarters when you get a chance?"

"Aye, aye, Ma'am." Pierce saluted.

Shepard smiled again, "Relax, Pierce." She returned the salute.

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**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews and PMs. All comments, reviews, suggestions and PMs are welcome.


	4. Chapter 4 Elysium

**In Love and War**

**Chapter Four – Elysium**

Shepard woke up with her heart racing and her breath short. She hadn't had a nightmare about the battle on Elysium in a very long time. She took a deep breath to calm her heart, and then got up and walked to the closet where her formal dress blues hung, and fished the breast pocket to take out a folded postcard with a drawing on it. It was the only thing she took back from Elysium, that and her life. She had just finished the basic training and her bunkmate Tasha asked her to come to Elysium for their shore leave before moving on to different assignments. "Come on, Alan is coming and 7 others." Tasha and Alan were getting serious in their relationship but the whole squad wanted to vacation together?

"I'll be too busy." Shepard had plans. She wanted to visit both the Propulsion Academy campus and to meet with an N7 recruiter after the boot camp.

"You can spare a week, Shepard!" Tasha wouldn't let her off easily. "The day you become an Admiral, you'll remember who showed you a good time on Elysium! You'll come with us or we'll drag your ass there and make you have a good time." Shepard finally gave in and agreed to have a nice week of relaxation and sight seeing with her friends.

Nobody saw them coming. The batarians came in at night and killed everyone in sight as they advanced street by street on the human colony. Shepard and her friends joined the fight with only small pistols issued for Alliance personnel on leave. They could hear the shouting and explosions ringing in the distance. A small Marine squad got in contact with them and shared some heavier weapons with the group. There were no other options, the batarians were slaughtering civilians, kids, women, and unarmed men; nobody escaped, they had to join the fight. Shepard and her friends followed the Marine squad to a riverbank that curved around a large park. They could hear screaming coming from a sprawling structure across a bridge, and they knew there were people trapped in there behind the enemy line.

The batarians had set up barricades on the bridge and outside the building. The Marine squad took the central path while Shepard and her friends tried to sneak pass the defense on a catwalk just below the bridge. By the time the two groups met up on the other side, half of the Marine squad was dead. Screaming hadn't stopped in the building. They finally pushed back the batarians and entered the structure. The sight of bodies littering in the building was sickening. The Marines took to the windows to snipe the remaining batarians while Shepard and her friends searched the rooms for survivors.

Shepard teamed up with Tasha and Alan. As they stepped in pools of blood trying to avoid tripping on bodies that had been shot, hacked and shredded by grenades, Shepard and her friends threw up one after another at gruesome scenes room after room. But they kept pressing on, hoping you'd find survivors somewhere. Shepard went into a two-story apartment with Tasha behind her and Alan protecting their rear. The first floor was on fire, Tasha found a fire extinguisher in the kitchen and put out the small fire, as Shepard was still checking the rest of the first floor. No bodies.

Alan shouted from the second floor, "Over here!"

On the second floor, they found a man with dozens of knife wounds dead outside a bedroom door, his blood soaking the floor. The door had been kicked down, and a woman and a boy were shot in bed holding each other. Shepard turned her head away, feeling sick in her stomach again. She signaled Tasha to check another room while turning to check the remaining room. She walked in to the small bedroom with her pistol in front of her, more blood and a girl's body lying across the room. Shepard heard a whimper when she entered the room and as she bent down to check the girl's pulse. A voice came from a collapsible closet. Shepard moved slowly toward the closet with pistol aiming straight at it. "Is anybody in there? "

A girl's voice came out, "Is it safe to come out?"

Shepard lowered her gun, "Yes, come out slowly. I won't hurt you. I'm with the Alliance, I'm here to help."

A girl about 8 or 10 climbed out of the closet slowly, tears on her face. Her eyes locked on Shepard's face and her hands clenching her skirt. Shepard docked her gun and stepped in between the girl and whom she suspected was the girl's dead sister on the floor. "Sweetheart, are you hurt?" The girl shook her head. "You hid in there? You are a very smart girl."

"My sister hid me there before, before…" Shepard took the girl's hand and walked her out of the room all the while blocking her view of her sister's body.

Gunfire intensified outside again. Shepard and her friends heard the Marines shouting, "Incoming reinforcements! We've got to go!"

Shepard led the girl downstairs, away from the bodies and blood pools of her family. She walked her over to the kitchen pantry and took out everything in the tiny room, and she put the girl in there. "You hide in here. I'm going to stop those monsters outside. And I'm going to come back for you. Don't come out by yourself. You wait here for me, okay?" The girl nodded but didn't let go of Shepard's hand. Shepard waited for a moment. She saw a box of crackers lying on the floor, so she took it and gave it to the girl, "You eat this box of crackers and wait for me. I promise I will come back for you. Can you trust me?" The girl nodded again and let Shepard's hand go and took the crackers. Shepard lightly squeezed the girl's shoulder. "Stay."

An armored car had dropped off more batarians a block down the street. One of the Marines took out the armored car, but not before its large gun landed a devastating shell on the spot where the Marines were and took out every single one of them. Two members from Shepard's party made their way to the spot and checked for survivors and useable weapons and ammo. Shepard, Alan and Tasha were the only ones on this side of the barricade. Shepard shouted across the street, "What's the situation?"

Her friends shouted back, "No survivors, two rifles and some grenades left." The batarians fired at her friends' location.

Shepard turned to Tasha, "We can't fight them with our pistols. I'm going to get us some grenades and see what else I can find. When I lay down the cover fire, you two come over to that side, OK?" Her friends nodded. Shepard started running and diving into the cover on the other side of the street.

Shepard and her friends tossed several grenades at the batarians behind their barricade, after the grenades exploded, Shepard got up and fired her rifle. The batarians returned fire at her location while Tasha and Alan ran across the street to join them. "This isn't working, we can't see them and we don't have sniper rifles left. They are smart and they don't stand up or show their vulnerabilities. We'll be sitting ducks soon if we don't cut them through somehow." Shepard was getting frustrated.

Alan gave his pistol to Tasha, "I've got an idea. I'm going to run back into the building while making noise. Hopefully it will get their attention and get you guys an opening."

"No, everyone stays together." Shepard tried to stop him.

"We don't have other options." Alan looked at Tasha and gave her a big kiss on the lips, and he took off running. The song they hated so much at the boot camp rang in the streets of Elysium, "We are the space Marines, with our rifles and shields, we travel the galaxy, we stand in the front and center, straightly and honorably."

Both the humans and the batarians were shocked by Alan's action. A few batarians got up and watched the human running while singing at the top of his lungs. Shepard yelled loudly, "Fire, fire!" Her friends opened fire simultaneously. "Go, go, go!" As they moved forward ducking behind building debris and parts of barricades, they pushed back the closest batarians. At the same time, the batarians opened fired on Alan's position. Alan's voice went on for a little while, and then it went silent. Tasha jumped up and charged the enemy hiding behind the last line of a long barricade. "No, Tash!" Shepard saw her friend vaulting over their cover and she followed after her, firing everything she had in her hands at the enemy. When they both reached a stack of barricade blocks, Tasha fell down. Shepard's eyes popped when she saw two holes in Tasha's chest. They were just holes at first, then blood started to trickle down. "No!" Shepard searched her pockets for Medi-gel and bent down to Tasha.

"Alan!" Tasha coughed.

Shepard quickly ripped opened the gel pack and squeezed the content on Tasha's wounds. "Stay with me, Tash, don't leave me."

"Shepard," Tasha's breathing was ragged, "Don't forget to call me when you make Admiral." Her breathing stopped.

"No, no, no! Tash, you open your eyes and you look at me! I'm not going to carry you sorry ass back to the spaceport. You are going to walk out of here, you hear me?" Tasha didn't hear her. More gunfire rang. Shepard didn't want to hide any more.

With a bloody knife in one hand and a pistol in another, Shepard charged the batarian barricade, darting from one cover to another, like a malfunctioning robot that was executing precise movements with maddening reasons behind the action. As she plowed through the stunned batarian fighters, a trail of bodies laid waste behind her. By the time she stopped her bone chilling cries that companied her maddening dash, she was covered in blood, her voice was gone, and she could barely hold herself upright. It took her a long time to walk back to Tasha's body. She dropped down to her knees and took Tasha's dog tags and whispered, "I got them, Tash. I got them all."

When the Alliance reinforcements arrived, they found the young soldier sitting next to her friend's body, neck full of dog tags and body covered in blood. As they tried to get her on a stretcher, she shook them off. "Take your hands off me, I'm not injured." But she couldn't stand up on her feet, so she just sat there, until she suddenly remembered something. She got up and ran into the building with two field medics chasing after her. She went into one of the apartments and into the pantry. There, she found the girl sleeping against the wall. She picked up the girl and carried her outside toward the field vans.

Shepard spent two days in the field hospital for two bullet wounds, and the girl she found never left her side. When she could get up and walk around again, they had found the girl's relatives off world and arranged for transport. The day they said goodbye, the girl gave Shepard a postcard. On it, she drew an Alliance soldier with amber red hair and a pistol in her hand.

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**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews and PMs. All comments, reviews, suggestions and PMs are welcome.


	5. Chapter 5 Benezia

**In Love and War**

**Chapter Five – Benezia**

Shepard came out of her room and poured some coffee. She didn't want to sleep anymore; the nightmares had given her a bad headache. The elevator door dinged. She looked up and saw Tali walking into the mess hall still tapping on her omni-tool. "Hey, Tali." Shepard called out.

"Oh, Shepard! You startled me." Tali walked over to the table where Shepard was sitting, shutting down her omni-tool and she sat next to the human. "Can't sleep. It's too quiet on this ship." Tali spoke slowly, sounding tired.

"Yeah, quarian ships seem to be a lot noisier." Shepard remembered her longest N7 training mission. They had traveled for nearly six months on both simulated and real life missions that took them to both Alliance space and the Terminus Systems. In one of the farthest trips in the Terminus Systems they came upon a small frigate-sized quarian ship that had been stranded. Their fuel injector had malfunctioned and the secondary injector over compensated with too much force that backfired and the ship lost most of its fuel.

"The biggest fear for the flotilla ships when they go off on their own is to get stranded without communications." Tali tapped her fingers on the table unconsciously. "What were they doing out there?"

"They were quarian Marines sent to rescue someone who got himself in trouble on his Pilgrimage."

_So that's how Shepard knew about the Pilgrimage when I first told her_, Tali deduced. "Did you find our Marines as tough as yours, Shepard?" Tali teased but Shepard could hear pride in her voice.

"Actually I didn't find them to be that much different. Our command structures work similarly and I noticed how each member on the squad found a way to work both independently and as a unit. That's not so far from how we do things. Two things I wish we had though. One of the Marines was very handy with the ship's repairs. He took only two components we provided from our ship and made their ship fly again. It would have taken our dry dock contractors months and a long list of part requisitions to accomplish what he did in a few days."

"We quarians have to make do with little resources available to us which is to say not much. It's not unusual for one of the soldiers to also perform engineering functions. We practically grew up repairing all classes of ships." Tali explained.

"Yeah, that's what he said. 'Oh, this is amateur work, you should meet one of our real engineers.' Then he proceeded to show our engineers how to recycle the air and water so that our supplies could last three times as long." Shepard laughed. She enjoyed sharing the memory with the young quarian. Her headache started to fade. "I'd never thought I would actually get to meet a quarian engineer let alone work with one, cause you guys stick with the Migrant Fleet."

"Who's the quarian engineer?" Tali asked.

"You, Tali! Who else?" Shepard laughed again, looking at the girl's dense expression, she must be tired.

"Keelah! Shepard, I'm not an engineer, well, not yet anyway. I'm only a machinist." She started to ring her hands.

"What are you talking about? You're a great engineer! Even Adams is very impressed with you and he's bee an engineer for years!" Shepard's sincere voice companied her convincing look.

The young quarian shifted several times in her seat giving away her excitement at hearing Shepard's compliment but she didn't argue or agree. "What was the second thing impressed you about our Marines? You said two things you wished you had."

"One of the guys had an amazing grenade launcher, I think it was ML-50? We didn't have anything like that."

"It must have been the ML-77 if you were that impressed by it, and that model is heavily favored by our Marine troops. Remember, these are not the ones you often see vorchas use, our Marines do their own modifications that make them launch faster and the missiles go further. But I've known others who made them work with smaller missiles for more control and accuracy." Tali raised her voice an octave, "Oh, we should get one and take it with us on missions. It's super compact to carry but it transforms into a big beast when you unlock the kinetic pieces. With the right mods, you can launch a large krogan with that thing!"

"It's a crazy weapon, right?" Now Shepard's voice was getting higher also. "The quarian Marine wouldn't trade it even though he said he could probably build another one after he got back to the flotilla. I briefly considered stealing it from him and leaving him with one of our best rifles as a trade."

"Oh Shepard, you didn't!" Tali sounded a little worried.

"No, I didn't steal it. Even though I could have given him something that's comparable in terms how much credits it would cost. But he named the rocket launcher with a girl's name, like Meelah or something. I couldn't break a guy's heart like that."

Tali's laughter actually ringed through her helmet's speech port as she threw her head back. "Shepard, you are such a romantic!"

Shepard thought to herself, _if I had a sister would she be like Tali?_ Smiling she asked, "Tali, if someone steals Chiktikka from you, what would you do?"

"I would hunt the bastard down and string him up in the ship's exhaust venting room until he apologizes to Chiktikka, and then let Chiktikka have her way with him!" She huffed through the voice port.

"You see, another reason I couldn't take that Marine's rocket launcher." Shepard leaned in putting her index finger on the table to make her point.

"So…you're a romantic and a coward?"

This time it was Shepard's loud laughter that filled the mess hall, un-tethered by any speech port, unburdened by her nightmare.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Shepard walked into the med bay finding Dr. T'Soni in half sitting position and reading an OSD. Shepard had been thinking about the mission on Therum; while she'd been trying to make connections between the scientist and Saren, her thoughts kept returning to Liara. It was still startling to Shepard that the person who wrote those books and papers turned out to be such a young maiden. Shepard knew about asari's long life span and the stages of their lives. Something also startled her, the beauty of the asari. Shepard had met her fair share of asari and has seen them in bars and clubs, but none had the effect that Liara had on her. Looking into those deep blue eyes on Therum, Shepard had the urge to put a protective blanket over her and do whatever it took to keep her safe. She told herself she wasn't being rational. Liara was connected to Benezia, right now that was her only lead to track down Saren, and the situation required certain objectivity. But she couldn't help but trust Liara, maybe it was her instinct, and her instincts were usually right.

_I have to trust myself._

"Dr. T'Soni, you look much better." Shepard put the working blues Pierce had left for her on the table by Liara's bed and grabbed a chair to sit next to her. Shepard had asked Dr. Chakwas to keep the med bay clear of personnel so that she could talk to their guest alone.

"Commander Shepard." Liara made an effort to sit up, but Shepard stopped her by putting a hand gently on her arm. "Dr. T'Soni, please don't get up. I just wanted to check on you and see if you needed anything." She smiled at Liara. "Dr. Chakwas says you need another day of resting in bed."

"Thank you, Commander. I have yet to properly thank you for rescuing me on Therum. I swear to you I know nothing about what Saren wants," she looked down at her hands and lowered her voice, "or what my mother has to do with all this."

Shepard saw sadness on Liara's face. "You and your mother haven't been close?"

"We had a fight and we parted, neither made an effort to resolve the issue. We have not talked in years. I had always thought that I had time eventually to talk to her. After Therum, I am not sure how true that is anymore."

Shepard saw a film of tears forming in Liara's eyes, and she wants to change the subject. "Perhaps Saren wants your expertise on the Protheans. He was after a Prothean beacon on Eden Prime."

"A working Prothean beacon?" Liara sounded excited and her eyes were wide.

"Yes. It actually transferred some images to my mind as it did to Saren's. The images are difficult to make out which makes it impossible to understand the message."

"You were actually imprinted by a Prothean beacon and lived?" Liara couldn't hide her surprise.

"Well, I'm still here, aren't I?" Shepard chuckled.

"O..of course, Commander! I apologize." Liara seemed a little nervous now. "I did not mean to...I mean it is rare to see any working Prothean beacon, and even those who had been touched by them did not survive the experience. It probably takes incredibly strong minds to take that kind of blast."

"Well, that just leaves me and Saren." Shepard couldn't help but think of the similarities between her enemy and herself. Liara's voice brought her out of her thoughts.

"Maybe when I am stronger I can meld with you to help organize and recognize the images." Liara offered.

"You already helped some actually, Dr. T'Soni." Shepard felt a little excited about the possibility of melding with Liara. "I've read all your published works, and you got one thing right: the Protheans were wiped out by a race that was stronger than them."

"You read my books?" Liara was more than surprised. She suspected no more than half of her peers in the Prothean studies had read all her work. This human soldier was indeed different.

"I like reading and learning, you can call me obsessed with obtaining knowledge that interests me." Shepard said matter of fact. "Your books are the best studies based on findings in Prothean ruins. But I believe an old machine race called Reapers by the Protheans cleared all organic beings in the galaxy 50,000 years ago."

Liara certainly didn't expect the human Spectre's visit would turn into an in-depth discussion of the Protheans. When Shepard stood up to leave, Liara found it hard to let her go. She found the human incredibly intelligent and kind, she felt she was drawn to her.

"Dr. T'Soni, I shouldn't have kept you up for so long. I'm sorry, when I talk to someone who has so much knowledge, I can't help myself." She smiled at Liara apologetically, "I brought you some clean clothes. I only remembered to collect the data discs and artifacts from the ruin, didn't even think about taking anything else. So you have to make do with these until maybe the next time we are on the Citadel and you can shop for some clothes."

"Commander, you have been very kind to me. I will do anything in my power to repay you." Liara accepted the clothes.

After Shepard left, Liara's thought turned to the last time she spoke with her mother.

"Liara, you've spent enough time in the academic field. Don't you think it's time you joined with my teachings?" Benezia had mastered the art of politics and manipulation to get to where she was, but she never wanted to influence Liara that way. She much preferred if Liara joined her willingly.

"Mother, we can learn from the past. Future is unknown. How do you know what will happen and what is yet to come?" Liara trusted her mother with many things, growing up Benezia was her only family. But after she chose her own path, she saw things differently and they disagreed on more things every time they talked.

Liara wasn't sure why she started to distrust her mother. Perhaps it was because Benezia hid things from her and she learned to do the same. From a very young age, Liara wanted to know who her father was, but Benezia was close lipped about it, and when she asked, the questions always pushed Benezia into either anger or sadness. Just before she left Armali for Serrice to attend University, Benezia confessed to her that her father was another asari, after many servings of Serrice Ice Brandy. Liara partially understood the reason Benezia kept that a secret for all those years, a pureblood didn't exactly fit the T'Soni's image, certainly made it harder to walk the path her mother had planned for her. She didn't blame her mother for hiding the fact from everybody. The part that she didn't understand was why Benezia kept it from her.

What Liara didn't know until this day was that Benezia carried an immense self imposed guilt for the fact that being a pureblood, Liara might lose chances at certain opportunities and careers, not to mention the insults she would endure. Benezia tolerated every rebellion Liara had when was growing up to the point of spoiling her, but she didn't tolerate her own mistakes. And this was one mistake she could never correct. Not only she might hurt Liara's future, but also she knew she hurt Liara's father. She had loved her, and kept that love still hidden. Their love was deep enough that Benezia never let herself love another. Maybe that was why she became angry when Liara asked about her father: she still felt the hurt deep in her heart and it turned into anger when she couldn't tell Liara the truth or explain why. But Liara often reminded her of her father and that somehow gave Benezia a little comfort. When Liara once called her classmate a bunch of blue nosed dicks, Benezia laughed after giving Liara a lecture to not ever talk like that again. _Just like her father. She found her father's way of talking without being taught._

"Little Wing, why do you spend so much time on remote digs while you could be here assisting with my work? You have such a gift and possess the wisdom people much older do not." Benezia had learned that Liara's latest book on the Prothean Empire had not sold well.

"Mother, must we go through this again? If I am such a disappointment to you, I will be happy to stay in remote digs and try not to show up here to embarrass you." Liara was disappointed at herself because her latest book was going to be her ticket to get grants for future excavations on several planets. She was in a bad mood when she got back from the meeting with the University unit chief.

Benezia was at her wits' end with Liara. In her mind, Liara had spent enough time researching a dead race and should pay more attention to the current happenings in the galaxy. Even if she didn't want to follow her footstep, she should at least spend some time around people, and date a little, anything, anything is better than cooped up in a dirty cave for decades or years. She brought up a childhood friend of Liara's who was now dating an important turian diplomat, "Liara, you are at the age when you should explore more options in life."

Not this again! It made Liara's blood boil every time her mother tried to get her to go to bed with somebody. She even tried to set her up a few times which all ended up with Liara storming out, and subsequently getting grant to go on another dig for a few years. "Why is that it's acceptable for us to spend time exploring endless sexual partners but not acceptable to work on serious scientific research? Is this where our culture is headed? If it is, I do not wish to be a part of it!" She was ready to pack up her small travel case, with or without a grant for the next excavation site.

"This is how asari society works, this is how our reproduction works! If you don't explore, how would you know what's best for you?" Benezia was frustrated.

"Would it make you happier if I were sleeping with a different partner every night? Or do you prefer that I become a dancer at Afterlife on Omega?" Liara was throwing a tantrum now.

"It would make me a lot happier than seeing you spending years on archeological excavations. And there is nothing wrong with exploring your sexuality if you ever want to reproduce after your maiden years."

"Oh, like you and my father? How many partners did you ever explore with? Do you even remember my father's name?" Liara shocked herself with what she had said. Benezia was the one who stormed out of the room this time. When Liara left home, she and Benezia didn't even say goodbye. Liara wanted to apologize, but she neither got the chance to even see Benezia who seemed to use her busy schedule to avoid Liara nor strong desire to talk to her mother. Maybe after they both cooled down a bit they could talk again? But that was years ago, Liara never got the chance to say, "I'm sorry."

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**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews and PMs. All comments, reviews, suggestions and PMs are welcome.


	6. Chapter 6 Feros

**In Love and War**

**Chapter Six – Feros**

It didn't take long for Shepard to get another lead because the geth had attacked the human colony on Feros, and the Council was certain that Saren initiated the attacked.

Shepard put on her N7 armor and headed to the cargo hold. She hadn't briefed her team on the details because she had very little to go on. She did some research about the planet and the colony after the Council had given her the lead. The entire planet was a Prothean world, now in ruins. Saren was still after some kind of Prothean artifacts or maybe another beacon. Shepard cringed at the thought of possibility of running into another beacon. She'd been having headaches since Eden Prime, Dr. T'Soni had been helping her sort out the images, but neither of them had much success at interpreting the meaning. Liara had been mostly concerned about Shepard, even though Shepard could tell that seeing the images from a Prothean beacon excited the archeologist. Even when they couldn't figure out the images, Liara had melded with her to just sooth her headaches. "Are you always this helpful?" Shepard asked the scientist after their most recent melding, she'd had a wicked headache and wasn't able to sleep all night.

"Of course, Commander. If someone is in need and I am able to help, I will gladly provide it. Besides, I owe you my life."

Shepard decided to take everyone to the planet including Liara to see her biotics in action. As she joined her crew in the cargo hold and packed her own weapons, she introduced Liara to the team.

"Dr. T'Soni will join us on the planet mission. This is an ancient Prothean world, we might need her expertise." Shepard had asked Ashley to fit Liara with proper armor and weapons to compliment her biotics. Looking at Liara's gear, Shepard silently approved the great job Ashley did at picking out the perfect match for the asari.

After the Gunnery Chief joined them on the Normandy, Shepard found Ashley both intriguing and puzzling. During their first debriefing Shepard had asked the Marine: "Ashley, why weren't you assigned on a spaceship before Eden Prime? You're one of the best soldiers I've seen."

"Commander, I guess you haven't heard about the Williams legacy from Shanxi." Ashley wasn't used to hearing praise from her superiors so openly, especially from a hero like Shepard. "I'm just a meathead who knows how to handle a boomstick."

"I doubt that. And who cares about something happened when you were still in diapers? I sure don't." Shepard had read about General Williams surrendering Shanxi during the First Contact War. "If humanity wants to go anywhere in this galaxy, we have to move forward."

"That was only a small part of it. My dad's career suffered the most by the legacy, I think."

"So there is more to your story?" Shepard read Ashley's files and everything in them showed an exemplary Marine whose record was spotless.

"Well, decking your superior officer didn't help either." Ashley's voice had some bitterness. "I was picked to go on a smuggling ring bust and the Lieutenant leading the operation was a jackass. The smugglers holed up in a big fortified compound with lots of firepower. Instead of waiting for air support, he kept sending in Marines to get killed." Ashley snarled. "He was a son of some important diplomat and was trying to wrangle a medal or something. Everyone was trying to talk him into waiting for some support first, but he wouldn't listen. He didn't have a good plan either. A couple of guys wanted to pull a fast one on him. They rigged some remote detonators on his armor that would undo all the claps but not hurt him. So the next day in the field, just before he was getting ready to send in more soldiers, my buddies destroyed all the claps on his armor." Shepard's eye went wide, Ashley had to chuckle when she said, "His entire armor just fell off, and he was wearing a bright red shirt and a white long underwear with these huge red hearts printed on them." Shepard laughed, trying to imagine a guy in a red shirt with red heart prints on his underwear in the midst of heavy gunfire.

"At first he thought he got shot and kept yelling for medic. But nobody moved, and then he realized what happened, he was so mad. The smugglers had these two large turrets set up to fire incendiary rounds, and if you get caught in that shit, you won't even have a body left for your family to bury. He ordered my friends to charge the building into the crossfire of the turrets while he was still in his drawers, but nobody moved. He took out his gun and pointed at my buddies, and that's when I had enough." Ashley wasn't laughing anymore. "The jackass had been trying to hit on me the minute I showed up, so I went up to him and said, 'Hey Lieutenant! Come here, I want to give you a kiss' He was so dumb, he believed me and walked toward me in his underwear, I decked him, and decked him hard. 'Yeah, I will give you a kiss, with my knuckles.' I broke his face, his nose and teeth, too. I guessed I was mad too." Ashley looked at Shepard. "Now you know why I was in the Frontiers. They buried the records of the operation and me along with it."

The more Shepard knew about Ashley, the more she liked her. "I would have done the same, except I would have used a concussive round for the job."

"That's why you are the Commander cause you are smarter."

"I don't know about that. But I will remember to tell the crew not to hit on you if they want to keep their teeth." Shepard smiled. "Should I include the non-human crew members in the warning too?"

"Can't say I trust them, ma'am. They haven't proved themselves that they will stand by us when going gets tough." Ashley saw a slight worried look on Shepard's face. "Commander, I'm not a racist if that's what you are worried about. I'm a Marine, and I follow orders. You say jump, I say how high."

Shepard shook her head. "Again, I know you have more than that to offer, Ash. Tell you what, I now grant you permission to deck me if I ever do a dumb thing like sending people to their deaths unnecessarily. Just one small request, watch the nose, will you? It's the best feature on my face."

Ashley laughed at that, "Aye, aye, ma'am."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"So Tali has mentioned that she could build a missile launcher big and powerful enough to launch a large krogan." Shepard spoke after everyone stood in a circle wait for the planet drop on Feros. "I'm thinking we should let her."

"Launching a large krogan, huh?" Wrex said in his deep voice. Everyone looked at him, his face calm. They looked at Tali, but couldn't see her face behind the mask, only her eyes blinking. "That could be fun." Wrex continued.

Everyone laughed. As Shepard imagined sending Wrex into a group of geth machines at a high velocity and knocking them down like bowling pins, Kaidan spoke, "Commander, do we know what to expect down there?"

"Not specifically, just the geth attacked the colony. But if they are the fighting machines we saw on Therum, we are going to wish we had bigger guns. Think they reserved these machines specially for our Dr. T'Soni here?" Shepard checked her weapons.

"Unlikely. No offense, Dr. T'Soni." Garrus chimed in. "Saren is kind of person who'd use any tool he has to achieve his goal. It's unlikely he holds back if he's after something important." Shepard realized that Garrus was the only one who actually had ever met Saren.

"Is there a chance you can just get your old buddy Saren on the phone and talk him out of this?" Shepard said to Garrus.

"Is life ever that easy, Shepard?" Garrus replied.

"What fun would that be?" Shepard winked.

"I wouldn't want to find out." Garrus packed his sniper rifle.

"Neither would I." Wrex added.

"It would be nice once in a while, though." Tali's comment made everyone laugh again.

Shepard walked with Kaidan to the two Marine squads waiting by the Makos. "Kaidan, you are in charge of these guys and if we need to run more than one operation down there, I will need you to be in charge of the separate location from me. I'm sure you know how to handle these guys. And I'm also giving you Pierce in case you need a field medic, and this will give her a chance to test her field skills. I'm certain you know how to handle her."

Kaidan's face turned red. "You think you know me, Commander?" He looked at Shepard for a moment, "Well, you do." They both laughed.

The fight of course wasn't easy, and Shepard thanked Anderson silently for the second Marine squad he had added. After the long journeys back and forth on the skyway, Shepard asked left Kaidan to deal with the scientists hiding in the underground bunker, and sent Garrus, Tali and Wrex to the tunnels to clear the geth, some rabid Varren, which pleased Wrex tremendously, and see if they could help with the power and water supplies for the colony, to which Tali said she'd be happy to take a look.

Shepard took Ashley and Liara to explore the old Prothean ruin where Saren had visited. They expected the ancient building houses nothing but some old artifacts since the colonists hadn't seen any geth there since Saren's ship took off. But as soon as they reached the inner layers of the building, they discovered that the Thorian was more challenging in some ways than the geth. Shepard cursed herself for not taking more men, but all operations were spreading thin on the planet, so they'd just have to fight smarter.

Shepard took point and signaled Ashley to follow. Their crossfire was effective against the Thorian creepers who projected acid that melted Ashley's shotgun in seconds. "Damn it!" Ashley barely got out of the way of the deadly vomit, and she dropped the shotgun that was still sizzling in the acid. "I'm fine, Skipper. Don't let these creepers puke on you. Their barf looks dangerous."

"It looks to be toxic." Liara looked at the color of Ashley's melted shotgun. "I am certain it has dissolving agents that will transfer venomous particles that will not mix well with most organic being's blood and tissue cells."

"She means you will get sick if the barf doesn't kill you immediately." Shepard teased.

"You can say that again." Ashley agreed. After they brought down one of the old growth's tentacles, Shepard and Ashley stopped for a second to let their rifles cool down. Liara saw an asari commando charging at them, she put up a barrier instinctively around the group. The asari commando's warp throw bumped into the barrier with a shock wave. "Jesus, I thought we killed the one that spoke for the old growth." Ashley opened fire with her rifle first then Shepard unleashed her shotgun at the commando.

"Guess they made more than one clone." Shepard finished off the clone.

As they climbed the stairs, more Thorian creepers and commandos poured at them. Shepard had run up in the front, cutting through hordes of creepers. Ashley watched their rear. As she saw a group of creepers charging up at them, she tossed a grenade and hid behind the wall as it exploded. Above them, there was a big hole in the celling. Ashley picked off everyone who didn't get killed completely by her grenade, and then she tried to catch up with Shepard and Liara. Three creepers and an asari commando dropped down through the hole in the celling, cutting her off from her comrades.

Shepard had made a turn to another set of stairs, but Liara saw the attacking force around Ashley. She ran back down, "Ashley!" Liara immediate put up a shield around Ashley but leaving herself unprotected. Ashley jammed her finger on her rifle trigger and took out the commando, and when she aimed her gun at the creepers, one of them projected a large stream of hot liquid on to Liara's arm that was holding up the shield protecting Ashley.

Ashley's eyes widened as she saw Liara bending down. She quickly disposed of the last creeper and raced toward Liara. After hearing Liara shouting Ashley's name, Shepard backtracked to check on her teammates. As soon as she turned around the corner, she saw Liara going down, her armor was burning from the acid with a sickening sizzling sound.

"Ahh!" Liara screamed, "Please get the armor off of me!" Shepard and Ashley both dropped their weapons and quickly undid the claps on Liara's armor. The armor pieces came off only to reveal the green acid eating through the inner layer of clothing and spreading on the skin. Liara tried to hold back her cries of pain by biting down her bottom lip, but her body was shaking. Shepard quickly snapped open a large pack of Medi-gel while Ashley gripped Liara's arm tightly to hold it still. The Medi-gel started to work quickly, cooling the burning skin.

"What happened?" Shepard asked.

"It was my fault, Skipper. I didn't look up. A bunch of creepers and a commando dropped down from a hole in the celling and caught me by surprise. Dr. T'Soni saved me with her barrier and let herself get attacked by a creeper. It was all my fault."

"No, Chief Williams. It was not your fault, you could not have seen them coming." Liara tried to acclimate to the pain and calm the Marine at the same time. She took a deep breath and tried to stand up.

Shepard helped her by holding her good arm. "Liara, are you okay to walk?"

Liara nodded, "I am fine, Commander. The medicine is taking effect. Let us keep going." Ashley and Shepard both picked up their weapons and sandwich Liara in the middle as they moved up more stairs.

After they took out every last one of the Thorian creepers and sunk the old creature down to the gorge, Shiala dropped down from a pod on the wall. Liara immediately recognized her, "Shiala, what are you doing here?" Shepard learned much from Shiala about Sovereign's power of indoctrination, but meeting Shiala also presented an interesting possibility: one could be freed from Reaper indoctrination. Shiala did it with the Thorian's influence. She also brought another important piece of information. Before she'd been completely indoctrinated by Sovereign, Matriarch Benezia shared her mind with Shiala. Shiala told Shepard that the Matriarch made a copy of her memory and imprinted in a part of her own mind, and she had kept it hidden from Saren, Sovereign and even from the Thorian, as she hoped one day she could re-imprint it back to the Matriarch and perhaps free her from Sovereign's indoctrination. She told Shepard that it must have been the Matriarch's intension when she imprinted her.

As impossible as it sounded, Shepard believed Shiala's biotics and her mind's ability to get imprints from multiple sources, and she decided to take her aboard the Normandy. Shiala had wanted to stay with Zu's Hope to help them rebuild the colony Saren had destroyed. She even offered Shepard to shoot her if the Spectre didn't think she could trust her. But Shepard was kind to Shiala. "It must be hard to keep all these voices in your head. I know how hard it is to have just one beacon's imprint in my mind. I'm sorry for your suffering. It sounds like you were just following the Matriarch's teaching. I'm truly sorry to put you through this but we'll need your help." Shiala had not seen any kindness since aboard the black ship, certainly not from Saren, and not so much even from her teacher as she herself lost her mind to the evil force.

"Commander, I'll help you anyway I can." Shiala offered her service to Shepard, "I'll give you the Cipher Saren took from me and help you free the Matriarch in any way I can."

Shepard knew that she needed to form a plan to help Liara's mother. "At least we have to try." Shepard told Shiala. Shiala needed no persuasion.

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**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews and PMs. All comments, reviews, suggestions and PMs are welcome.


	7. Chapter 7 The Normandy's Med Bay

**In Love and War**

**Chapter Seven – The Normandy's Med Bay**

As the group walked down the stairs, Liara fell behind. Shepard stopped and looked back at the asari. "Liara, are you alright?"

Liara's breathing was rapid and her steps unsteady. "I am… I…" Before she finished her answer, Liara tipped over.

Shepard was already moving toward her and she ran to catch her. "Liara!" The asari had lost consciousness. Shepard put Liara over her shoulder, moving quickly down the stairs. Ashley came to help steady them with Shiala following behind. By the time they got Liara to the med bay she was in toxic shock. Her body was convulsing and she threw up her stomach content but the dry heaves kept coming. Shepard held her arm down so that Dr. Chakwas could put a drip in her to clean out the toxins.

Ashley stood only a couple of steps away watching the suffering asari.

Liara's body finally calmed down, her breathing was still rapid and her vitals spiking. "What do we do?" Shepard shouted to Dr. Chakwas.

"We need to give her a transfusion. Luckily we stocked up on medical supplies for all races during our last trip to the Citadel." The doctor went to the lab to retrieve what she needed.

Liara moaned a little, her eyes opened but they weren't completely focused. Shepard held Liara's hand and put her other hand on the asari's face. "Liara, you are OK. You are safe. You are on the Normandy. Dr. Chakwas will give you a transfusion. You will be alright."

Liara wasn't looking at Shepard or at anything in particular, "My arm hurts."

Shepard stroked her face, "I know. As soon we clear out the toxins in your system, the doctor will give you something for the pain, okay? Squeeze my hand when it hurts. It might help a little."

Liara gripped Shepard's hand tightly.

It took Dr. Chakwas nearly an hour to clean out the toxins in Liara's system. Shepard was there holding her hand and talking to her to ease her pain. After Dr. Chakwas gave the asari some painkiller and the blood transfusion was doing its work, Shepard left the med bay to change out of her armor. She had a quick debriefing with her team, updating them on Liara's condition and the development with Shiala. They decided to keep Shiala in the brig just in case her mind changed back to Sovereign's indoctrination. Ashley volunteered to keep Shiala company, much to Shepard's surprise. After the debriefing, Shepard asked to speak with Ashley.

"Ash, how are you holding up?" Shepard sat on a crate and motioned Ashley to join her.

Ashley sat on another crate facing the commander, "Liara had time to save herself with a barrier, but she chose to save me instead. I should be the one on that bio bed, not her." Ashley shifted her gaze from Shepard to the floor.

"You know it wasn't your fault what happened down there. But I'm glad she'll be alright." Shepard stretched her legs while sitting on the crate. She hadn't realized the fatigue her legs were feeling after carrying Liara in a long dash until now. "I appreciate you volunteer for Shiala detail. Someone has to keep an eye on her, I'm glad that it's you."

"Well, after what Liara did for me, I figure this is the least I can do if you think this will help her and her mother." Ashley paused for a second. "Do you think we can trust the asari commando?"

"I don't know, Ash. But we don't have a lot of options, and I feel my back is against the wall on this one. The politicians seem to believe killing everyone is the answer."

"You don't believe that?" Ashley was studying Shepard who seemed to be absorbed in her thoughts.

"No, I don't. A powerful ally is much more productive than a dead body." Shepard refocused her attention on Ashley. "I'm hoping you might be able to help me make a judgment call on Shiala after spending some time with her."

Ashley didn't voice her surprise but her eyes widened. "How do you figure someone out in such a short time, Commander? I don't have your smarts. Remember, a meathead with a boomstick?"

Shepard shook her head, "All of us have more in common than not. That's a good place to start." Seeing Ashley's confused look, Shepard said earnestly. "You'd like to be an independent person, make it on your own and bring honor to your family, right? Look at Tali, a young girl who's never lived outside of the Migrant Fleet, leaves home and tries to bring something useful to her people, to do the right things and to make her father proud. Is there anything more honorable than risking your life to make the lives of your family and your people better? Is she that different from you?"

Ashley thought about Shepard's words while the Commander continued. "Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith to discover great things. Making friends is like that."

"You are right, Skipper. I can't become a smartass like you overnight, but I promise I will try to do better. And if you know the Williams women, you know we are stubborn when we have a goal. We don't give up easily."

"Good! I know I've got the right Gunnery Chief on my squad! I'm proud of you, Ashley." Shepard gave Ashley permission to stay in the storage hold where the temporary brig was set up.

Shepard took a shower and reported Feros mission to the Council. Shiala had given her the Cipher, but Shepard was still going nowhere with the images from the beacon. Maybe Liara could help her. No, she couldn't, she was in med bay. Shepard grabbed several OSDs and a pillow from her bed and headed to the med bay. Dr. Chakwas was leaving for the day, "Commander, I've made it as comfortable as possible for Liara. Her system is clean and the transfusion has done its job. Her body just needs to recover and adjust. She should wake up by tomorrow, but I suspect she will be weak for a couple of days as the toxins have done a number on her muscle tissues and her respiratory system."

Shepard nodded, "Thank you, Dr. Chakwas! I'd like to sit with her."

Shepard pulled up a chair and sat next to Liara's bed at the far end in the med bay. Liara's face looked better without the sickening greenish color tint. Her breathing was still a little labored, but she didn't seem to be in any pain. Shepard cozied up in her chair with a pillow behind her head against wall and started to read her books on the OSD.

Shepard woke up in the middle of the night when Liara stirred. She held the asari's hand and talked to her softly. When Liara woke up in the morning, she found the Commander sleeping in her chair against the wall and her hand holding Liara's.

Liara smiled at the sleeping human and tried to remember what happened the day before. She slowly lifted her injured arm, oddly it didn't feel too painful. The medicine Dr. Chakwas put on the wound has worked wonders. She tried to bend her legs and see if they were working, they felt heavy but they moved fine. Shepard stirred as she felt Liara's movement, and when she slowly opened her eyes and found Liara's deep blue eyes blinking at her. Shepard jumped up and bent down to look at the asari. "You are awake! How are you feeling? Are you in pain? Do you need me to get you anything?"

Liara chuckled, "Calm down, Commander. I have just woken up."

Shepard realized she was still holding Liara's hand and immediately took her hand away. "Would you like me to get you something to drink or eat? You need to…"

Liara made a move to get up, Shepard gently put a hand on her shoulder. "Wow, what do you think you are doing?"

"Umm… I have to go to the bathroom." Liara swung her legs off the bed, but she held on to it while testing her balance.

Shepard hovered her hands around Liara, watching her carefully. "You need some help?"

Liara chuckled again. "No, Commander. I do not need your help to go to the bathroom." But her legs proved her wrong as they gave out under her.

Shepard caught her by her good arm and put it arm around her shoulders and carried her weight while putting her own hands around the asari's waist. "Please let me help you."

Liara took a few breaths to regain her balance with the help of the Commander. "It seems that I do need your help, although I feel an unease to take you to the bathroom with me."

"I was a bathroom attendant before I joined up, I'm an old hand at this." Shepard said with a straight face and she walked with Liara slowly to the bathroom. It took an unusually long time to get the asari to and back from the bathroom. Shepard wanted to carry her but she suspected the asari would prefer to walk on her own.

Liara lied back down, her breathing was a little uneven. After she recovered a little, she asked, "Shepard, you were never a bathroom attendant, were you?"

"No." They both burst out laughing. When they stopped, Liara sighed a little. "I do not always know when you are joking, Shepard."

"You will get a hang of it, you learn everything fast." Shepard made sure Liara was all tucked in and comfortable, "Dr. Chakwas instructed me to get you to eat and drink something this morning. Food and liquid will jump start your system functions after the toxic shock. So, I'm going to bring all three meals to you today, and if you are good I might even bring you a snack in the afternoon." Before Liara could protest, Shepard cupped her hand on Liara's mouth, "Uh-uh, no arguments. Did I tell you I was a mess hall attendant too before becoming a Commander?" Shepard smiled and waited for Liara to realize the joke.

Shepard had asked whoever was on mess duty today to prepare special meals for Liara. The asari needed more than just the mushy and gooey MREs. So for breakfast, she had freshly cooked eggs with freshly toasted bread to take to the asari. Shepard added some juice and coffee to the tray and grabbed a cup of coffee and an energy bar for herself and returned to the med bay. She tilted the bio bed and put a couple of pillows behind the asari. After making sure she was comfortably sitting, Shepard put the tray on Liara's lap. Liara didn't feel like eating at all, her stomach still remembered the convulsions it had experienced yesterday. But she didn't want to disappoint the Commander who had made every effort to provide her with comfort and the special meal. She started with small bites and soon the food started to taste good. Watching Liara eating, Shepard had a big smile on her face. "It looks like all my previous careers have paid off. You are enjoying the food and you look better already."

Liara hadn't seen the Commander smile so openly and so unreserved before. She smiled back and then tilted her head, "Commander, why are you here tending to my every need while you have much bigger things to worry about?"

Shepard sat down next to the bio bed, sipping her coffee. "Liara, you saved the life of my teammate when you barely know any of them. Even some of them harbor suspicions for you, you didn't hesitate to sacrifice yourself to protect others. I admire that. I admire you."

Liara was speechless. She swallowed her food, "Commander, you are a war hero among your people. You were the youngest soldier ever awarded the Star of Terra." She looked at Commander's face, "Yes, I did some research on your background after we talked last time. How could you admire someone like me? Surely your courage is unmatched."

Shepard shook her head. "War heroes are those who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time and survived it. When we have time, remind me to tell you how I got the Star of Terra, then you might change your mind about the courage you've afforded me."

Shepard took the food tray away, pleased to see Liara had eaten everything. She lowered the bio bed, took away the extra pillows, and covered the asari. "You made a choice to protect someone other than yourself, Liara. That's true courage. Now, you have to rest. Or I will hear it from Dr. Chakwas." She could help but touch Liara's face while smiling at the asari.

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**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews and PMs. All comments, reviews, suggestions and PMs are welcome.


	8. Chapter 8 The Normandy's Brig

**In Love and War**

**Chapter Eight – The Normandy's Brig**

In the late afternoon, Ashley Williams finished her armor and weapon repairs for the team and moved a sleeping cot into the portside storage hold. A portion of the room had been turned into a temporary brig with an energy shield emitter installed on the bulkhead. The brig was large enough for a cot, a small portable bathroom/washing basin and a little bit of walking space. Ashley put the cot just outside the containment shield and moved a couple of crates next to the cot to put her coffee cup, her pistol and a couple of books on them.

Shiala watched the human soldier going about her business. After the soldier settled in outside the energy curtain, she heard her saying "what a day, huh?" Shiala wasn't sure if the human was here to guard her or interrogate her, both perhaps. On the Reaper dreadnought, when she wasn't with the Matriarch, geth troops always escorted her and she wasn't allowed to stray from the tasks Saren had given her. She hadn't expected different treatment on the Normandy as only a few days ago she was on the other side in this confrontation. After meeting Commander Shepard and this human soldier on Feros, Shiala could see how much they both cared for Liara, and she had hoped that the treatment she received might be better than she had on Sovereign.

"Chief Williams, may I ask how Liara is doing?"

Ashley was sitting in her bed reading a book when Shiala spoke. She looked up at Shiala's slender form and wondered if Shiala really was as powerful a biotic as the Commander believed her to be. Watching Ashley checking her out silently, Shiala regretted to have spoken. "Forgive me. I realize I may not have permission to ask."

Ashley replied immediately. "What? No. You don't need permission to ask me anything, and please call me Ashley. You are not our prisoner. Sorry about the bars, it may look like a prison but it's a precaution for both your safety as much as ours and the safety of this ship."

Shiala let out a sigh of relief. "I understand completely. I'm expecting either Commander Shepard or perhaps yourself to come and interrogate me. But I offer my service and knowledge freely and truthfully."

"Nobody is going to interrogate you, OK? If the Commander has questions for you, she'll just come down here and ask you. She isn't like Saren. And Liara will be fine. Shepard is taking care of her every need." Ashley wanted to put the asari at ease. She felt sorry for the commando. _Wow! She is less trusting than I am. It must have sucked being on that dreadnought!_

"You mean Commander Shepard is tending Liara personally?" Shiala was more than surprised. She had been on Saren's ship for what seemed like an eternity while Sovereign imprisoned their minds and Saren used them like machines and tools, and discarded her after he'd used her up. Shepard was a different kind of Spectre, Shiala learned that quickly about the human.

"Shepard cares about Liara very much, she cares about all of us. She's saved our lives many times." Ashley's adoration and worshipfulness for the Commander came through her voice.

"You sound like how we used to talk about Matriarch Benezia, full of admiration." Shiala almost had a smile on her face. "I miss that Matriarch. She was strong, wise and caring." To her own surprise, tears fell on Shiala's face. She hadn't cried in a long time, certainly not after getting on Sovereign. Crying was a sign of weakness, and weakness was not something you wanted to show on that ship. Even after her idol allowed Saren to give her up to the Thorian, she didn't cry. She didn't want to leave the Matriarch but she obeyed.

Ashley lowered the energy shield and she sat down next to Shiala. "It must be tough, you know, what you are going through, in your head."

Shiala's teary eyes widened with fear, not knowing what the soldier was going to do to her.

Ashley didn't know why, but she put her arm around Shiala. She saw Shepard comforting Liara like that one night. It was very late, and Liara was playing the recording that implicated her mother's involvement with Saren over and over while sitting at the corner table in the mess hall alone. Shepard came out of her quarters to get coffee and found the asari sobbing and sat next to her and comforted the girl with her arm wrapped around her. Ashley was working late and came up to the mess to get some coffee herself, but she watched the pair across the hall then left, not wanting to disturb them.

Ashley wanted to help the asari sitting next to her. Nobody deserved to be treated like a mind recycling bin. She didn't know what to say to Shiala, so she decided to just hold the asari's shoulders and let her cry.

Shiala hadn't had any tender contact in a while, even when she desperately needed it, like when she screamed under Saren's VI torture and begged the Goddess to let her die. Saren wanted to make sure the Thorian could link minds with Shiala, so he used VI simulations on her over and over to perfect the condition that would ensure the success of the Thorian indoctrination. Shiala had screamed from the pain in her head that spread to every nerve on her body. The pain was unbearable, and she begged Saren to stop. But he didn't.

Shiala's memories opened a floodgate. As her tears pouring out, her body shook with sobs. Ashley had to put both arms around her, and Shiala tightly gripped Ashley's arm as she sobbed violently. After quite a long while, Shiala calmed down. Ashley walked over to the sink and rinsed a towel for the asari to clean up her face. "How long have you been following the Matriarch?" Ashley asked.

"Over two hundred years." Shiala answered, grateful for a small cup of water the human was handing her.

Ashley whistled lightly, "That's twice as long as Liara's been alive! And there I thought she was old."

The asari couldn't help but break out a small chuckle. "Liara is barely an adult. I still remember how adorable she looked when she was but a little baby."

Shiala's smile made her watery eyes sparkle. Ashley smiled back. "Look, Shepard has asked the mess duty to cook something special for Liara. They always make extra when they make real food, not the crap comes out of square spam packages. I'm going to get some freshly cooked dinner for you, okay?"

Shiala felt better after crying. When the human soldier came back with a tray of deliciously smelling food, she suddenly realized how famished she was. Ashley finished her square spam looking food first and put down her tray on the floor. She watched Shiala eating her food like she hadn't eaten for a while, "Why do you let everyone put stuff in your head?"

Shiala looked up at Ashley and responded quickly. "Because of my genes." She took a drink of water. "Asari's biotics powers vary, just like other species have variations in their genes and abilities. A very small number of asari can kill people when they meld with them, and even rarer, people like me, we can invite other minds to imprint on our own and save them for a period of time." Ashley listened carefully. "My grandmother had the ability as well as my mother. I have several sisters and half sisters. Some of them have the abilities and some don't. The genes tend to pass on to those what we asari might call 'purebloods'. Several of my half sisters who have fathers from other species didn't inherit the genes."

"So you pop out of your mom's womb, and that's it, you become a mind doormat?" That seemed hardly fair.

"Sure, it can be a burden but it can also be useful. Some of my family members offer their services as messengers. Say, if someone is dying but her loved ones can't be there with her. We offer a part of our mind to be imprinted and share it with their family later on, for a fee of course." Shiala finished her food, feeling much better and more talkative. "I didn't want to do that. I always felt I wanted to do something for the greater good, using this gift. But it was hard to get any position because I'm a pureblood. Most of my people look down on us." She understood why the Matriarch took her in because she knew the truth of Liara's full parentage, but she had sworn an oath of secrecy to the Matriarch to never reveal it to anyone including Liara.

Ashley put their trays together. Shiala's story fascinated her. She wanted to hear more.

"But Matriarch Benezia was different. She knew I was a pureblood, everybody knew. Our family's reputation is known to many asari. But she didn't mind. She took me in and she encouraged me to trust my biotics and enhance it. She taught me a lot." Shiala's voice trailed away.

Ashley wondered if she would follow someone she trusted so much as blindly. "That's how you ended up on Saren's ship?"

"Yes, the Matriarch had many high level allies. Saren convinced her he was doing this to save the galaxy from extinction." Shiala sighed. "But Sovereign is very strong, stronger than all of us."

"Do you miss your family?"

"I have sisters whom I kept in touch before joining Saren. I'm uncertain what they think of me now and I'm afraid to find out. It might be better for them to think that I'm dead." Sadness returned to Shiala's voice.

"Is that why you wanted to stay on Feros?" Ashley wondered what her sisters would think if she ever fell that far, would they hate her? She realized she might not want to know either. _Saves you from a whole of pain._

After talking with Shiala, Ashley took both of their trays back up. She felt for both Shiala and Liara. When she returned she found Shiala sitting on the floor with her eyes closed, meditating. Ashley lay down on her cot and read her books of poetry, and when she was ready to go to sleep, she turned on the containment shield. Seeing Shiala was still meditating, she didn't want to disturb her. She lay down and covered herself with a blanket and went to sleep quietly.

A loud scream woke up Ashley in the middle of the night. She jumped out of bed, pistol in hand scanning the room for any threat. The room was dark, only dimly lit by the pinkish energy field that separated the only two occupants. Ashley lowered her weapon and hit the light. She walked over to the containment field cautiously and saw Shiala balled up on the floor holding her head with both arms, screaming in pain. The asari looked up when she heard Ashley moving toward her, "No, don't come in here." Her face was twisted in pain, "Ahhh…" She bent her head down again.

Ashley asked, "What's it?"

"The Thorian!" Shiala replied in between rapid breathing. "They use…pain to…ahhh!"

Ashley moved back to the crate next to her cot and came back near the energy field with a syringe. "Dr. Chakwas gave me a shot of sedatives in case you need it. I'm going to lower the energy field and give you this to ease the pain, OK?"

"No, no!" Shiala stumbled to the corner of the brig, "No sedatives! Saren used it to turn me back to Sovereign's voice. No, please don't give me that!" Her body started to twitch like the first clone did back on Feros, and it unnerved Ashley.

"My god, why are you twitching like the clone?"

Shiala held both of her hands out against the bulkheads, trying very hard to stop her body from twitching. Tears of pain ran down on her face, she looked at the ceiling. "Goddess, please make it stop, please!" Seeing Ashley's face with fear and a gun in her hand, Shiala offered, "If you fear I might hurt you, you can shoot me. But don't give me the sedatives." Shiala desperately tried to top her body from twitching by jamming it deeper into the corner with her shaky feet. She didn't want to scare Ashley who had shown her much kindness. She turned her head away from Ashley and hid it in the corner of the room while biting down the screams threatening to come out.

"Look, I've not seen you hurting anyone so far. Not on Feros and not on this ship. I'm not going to shoot you, OK? Would you just relax?" Ashley put her gun back on her hip. She lowered the energy field and crouched down to look at the asari. Her face was mask of pain and her eyes shut tightly. Ashley reached to touch her arm, Shiala let out a very loud scream. Ashley immediate took back her hand, "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."

When she finally stopped twitching her headaches intensified, but Shiala didn't have any energy left to scream. She leaned against the bulkheads in the corner of the room, her face showing pain and her hands clenching in fists. Watching the spent asari closely, Ashley lowered herself to the floor. "I'm just going to sit with you, I won't give you anything, and I won't touch you." Shiala's eyes looked glassy, which made Ashley worry. "Do you need me to get Dr. Chakwas? Tell me what I can do to help ease your pain." She said softly, like she used to do when her sisters got sick.

"Your…your voice sooths me." In between her held breaths, Shiala said with an unsteady voice. "Talk to me, please."

Ashley put the syringe down and moved closer to where Shiala was sitting, but being careful not to touch the asari. "OK. What would you like me to talk about?"

"Anything."

"Well, if you've got time, I can talk about my sisters and their endless parade of boyfriends all day and all night." When it came to Ashley's favorite topic, she needed very little encouragement. She recounted Sarah's high school boyfriend, and Lynn's fiancé who went off to some colony to open a repair shop without getting a permit, and her sister had to bail him out… "You'd think after a few trial and errors, they'd learn, right? Noooo. Sometimes I think their best talent collective and individually is to find losers over and over again, especially Sarah. I somehow always end up having to clean up the mess either by threatening to beat the shit out of the losers or giving my shoulder for my sisters to cry on." She laughed at her words of discontent, "Don't get me wrong, I love them. But some times I just want to slap them, especially Sarah!" She laughed again.

God knows for how long she had been rambling about her sisters, Ashley finally stopped talking when she saw Shiala stopped clenching her hands and teeth, and she was looking at her as though she was engrossed in the stories. Shiala realized the changes in her own body and gave the human a smile. "I thought I had problems."

Ashley burst out laughing. She extended her hand hesitantly but the asari accepted her help to stand up and walked over to sit on the cot. "You feeling better?"

"Yes, thank you, Ashley." Shiala sat down and gave the human a grateful look. "It usually takes many hours to get over the pain."

"Why didn't you want to take the sedatives? It might help you know." Ashley looked at the asari.

Shiala lowered her head, "The Thorian uses pain to control others' minds. Saren uses a VI programs to simulate the effect. It makes the nerves on your entire body inflame so you will only listen to its voice and follow its thoughts. My mind still remembers the Thorian's voice and my body reacts to it with pain." Shiala shut her eyes at the painful memories. "That's why I screamed when you touched me. My nerves were fully inflamed. I'm sorry." She hoped her apology would ease the human. "In between the Thorian experiments, Saren gave me sedatives that dull the Thorian indoctrination method so that I could hear Sovereign's voice. He did it so many times that my body reacts to sedatives that way now. I would rather die than hear Sovereign's voice again."

"That bastard! We'll get him and he'll pay for what he did to you!" Ashley said angrily. She took a couple of breaths to calm herself down and then she asked Shiala again. "Do you really think you can free her, the Matriarch, I mean?"

"I have much hope. After the Thorian fell into the chasm, my mind had such a clarity that it hadn't experienced in a long time. The same thing with Sovereign, the farther you go away from it and longer you stay away, the weaker its hold has on you. That's why Saren hardly ever lets us leave the ship and mostly sends the geth for fighting on planets. If we can get the Matriarch alone and give me enough time to meld, I think I can give her mind back to her." Shiala said hopefully.

"Good! I hope we can, for Liara's sake, and yours." Ashley sat with Shiala until she fell asleep. It surprised her that she wanted to take care of this woman the same way she cared for her younger sisters, and the asari was a few hundred years older than her. Ashley covered the sleeping asari with a blanket and walked back her own cot to sleep.

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**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews and PMs. All comments, reviews, suggestions and PMs are welcome.


	9. Chapter 9 Blasto

**In Love and War**

**Chapter Nine – Blasto**

Kaidan Alenko was sitting at a table in the mess hall, having his morning coffee and reading an OSD. Ashley and Shiala walked by the mess toward the med bay followed by Lt. Pierce. Pierce saw Kaidan; she changed her direction and walked over to him. Kaidan watched her coming and put up both hands. "Whatever you want from me, you can have it, as long as you don't jab me with that." He pointed at the syringe in Pierce's hand.

"Oh, this. Chief Williams asked me to give this back to Dr. Chakwas." Pierce lowered her hand, "She said Shiala doesn't need it."

"What is it? Truth syrup?" Kaidan asked with a serious look on his face.

Pierce raised her eyebrows. "Do you really think the Commander would drug Shiala?"

"Of course not. I was thinking you were going to use it on _me_. You know, the way you were holding it in your hand and walking up to me like I'm your prey."

Pierce laughed, "Did I scare you that much, Lieutenant?"

"Shitless!" Kaidan couldn't keep a straight face anymore as he let out a deep chuckle. He pointed his head toward the med bay door where Ashley and Shiala disappeared into, "It's good to see those two haven't killed each other."

Pierce sat down across from Kaidan, "They're going to visit with Liara."

"Did the Commander sleep there again last night?" Kaidan asked.

"I don't think so. Dr. Chakwas told me the Commander had a long conversation with Captain Anderson and took calls from several other people last night. Doubt she had any sleep."

Kaidan shook his head, "This whole Saren mess is going to make us all suffer!" He tapped on his OSD and waved it at Pierce, "Check out this chick! She is an awesome violin player!" He showed Pierce the vid on the OSD screen, Beethoven's opus 61 streamed out.

Pierce lowered her head, she didn't need to see it to know who was playing on the screen. "I don't play anymore, Lieutenant."

Kaidan's smile faded away. "How come?"

Pierce put the syringe on the table. She hadn't talked about this in a long time. Kaidan saw the sudden change in Pierce's mood, "Hey, you don't have to say anything. I was just goofing around."

It seemed to take some effort, but Pierce finally looked up at Kaidan. "I was playing on a multi-world tour when Skyllian Blitz happened. My family and some of my friends died."

Kaidan tilted his head, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know. I shouldn't have brought it up."

They sat in silence for a while. Kaidan put the OSD down on the chair he was sitting in, away from Pierce's view. Pierce looked at her own hands, feeling a renewed sense of loss. She hadn't thought about music in a long time. Not since she had put her violin in its case and signed her name on the Systems Alliance recruiting Extranet. The batarians robbed her more than her family and friends.

"I'm not usually a fan of classical music, but when you play it, it sounds so beautiful." Kaidan was kicking himself for not reading Pierce's files, but she was not under his department and he didn't have time to read everyone's files. He quickly changed the subject. "So the next time we dock at the Citadel, you want to catch a movie or something?"

"Oh, yeah? What movie?" Pierce was grateful to not think about Elysium anymore.

"There is a new Blasto movie out. I think it's called 'Blasto and something, something: Enkindle This!'" Kaidan saw Pierce withholding a smirk, but her eyes told him she was going to laugh. "What? You don't like Blasto movies? Don't tell me you are a kind of girl who watches elcor Shakespeare plays!"

Pierce couldn't hold her laughter in anymore. "I love Blasto movies!"

Kaidan joined her with a laugh, "I knew it! I pegged you as a Blasto girl!" He raised his hand to let Pierce give him a high five.

Ashley came out of the med bay. She heard the two lieutenants laughing. "What're you guys up to?"

Kaidan waved her over. "Hey Ash, you are a Blasto fan?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Inside the med bay, away from the laughter of the human Marines, Shiala was talking with Liara quietly. Liara was doing much better. She could walk to the bathroom on her own and her strength was recovering quickly. She missed the Commander's company last night, but Dr. Chakwas told her that Commander pulled an all nighter talking with a host of people as the Normandy passed a comm buoy. Dr. Chakwas wanted her to stay in the med bay for another couple of days so that she could monitor her blood and lungs with machines. When Ashley and Shiala walked in, Liara had just returned from her quarters getting another blanket to soften the metal bio bed. Shiala waited for Ashley to talk with Liara first.

"How are you doing, Liara?" Ashley helped Liara make the bio bed with her blanket and lie down on it. "I am doing extremely well considering. Dr. Chakwas wants to keep me in here for a couple of more days as a precaution."

"Listen, I wanted to thank you for what you did back on Feros." Ashley raised up her hand, "I've brought Shiala here who wants to say hi, but if you need anything, you send Pierce to get me, deal?" Liara looked at Ashley's upright hand, unlike the horizontal way that required a handshake. Ashley saw her puzzled look, grabbed Liara's good arm and put the blue hand in her own. "This is a Marine handshake to make a deal."

Liara smiled, "Okay, Ashley. I consent."

Ashley shook her head, "No, you say 'deal'. Don't worry, we'll work on that."

With that Ashley turned to Shiala, "I'll be in the armory if you need me." She left the two asari alone to talk.

Shiala gave Liara a hug. "Liara, how is your recovery? You worried me on Feros."

Liara hadn't seen Shiala since the last time she was at her mother's. Seeing Shiala standing in front of her, she wished her mother were here. "Where is my mother?" Liara couldn't control the eagerness in her voice.

Shiala stood next to the bed and put a hand on Liara's shoulder. "I don't know." There was so much to tell Liara but there was so much she didn't want to tell her. "I was given up to the Thorian to gain the Cipher Saren wanted."

"And my mother let him do that to you?" Liara was sitting up in bed and staring at Shiala.

"Liara, your mother is often not herself these days. Sovereign controls her mind and Saren dictates her actions."

Liara shook her head in disbelief. "Nobody can dictate my mother's actions if she doesn't let them." Shiala lowered her eyes and her face turned dark. Liara's eyes grew thin and angry. "Does he hurt her? Physically?"

Shiala didn't speak, still keeping her eyes down. Liara grabbed Shiala's arms and forced her to look up. "Answer me, Shiala! Please!"

Shiala's eyes were filling up with tears. "Yes. He hurts her physically and mentally. He jams all communications so she is isolated. She wanted to contact you, but he wouldn't let her."

Liara's lips were trembling, but she bit back the tears. "She doesn't know Saren was trying to get to me on Therum? How can she let him do this to her and hurt innocent people?"

Shiala sat down in a chair next to Liara and explained what the life was like on Sovereign and under Saren's command, about the power of indoctrination. Liara couldn't hold her tears any longer. "How could she be so careless? She is supposed to be the wise one."

"Liara, please don't blame your mother. Saren convinced her he was doing this for the greater good. The best deceit often hides behind the most tender words and noblest reasons. Believe me when I tell you, Saren was skillful at delivering both."

Liara hadn't experienced such despair in her life before. She didn't want to talk to Shiala anymore. She couldn't conjure up the image of Saren seducing her mother and sweet talking her into following his wishes, and then throwing her across the floor when she disobeyed. She wouldn't let her mind conceive the concept!

Shiala understood Liara's anguish only too well. She herself had gone through it during the first weeks on Sovereign as she watched the Matriarch losing her mind and her will to Saren further and further. She wanted to tell Liara Shepard's plan of freeing the Matriarch and the hope that both of them must hold onto, but Liara told her to leave her alone. Shiala starts to feel the nagging dull headaches coming before the full painful assault of the Thorian voice. She stood up and left the med bay taking herself quickly back to the brig.

Liara lay down after Shiala left and let her tears roll down the side of her face. She was so lost in her anger to even hear the med bay door open and Shepard's footsteps bouncing toward her bio bed.

Shepard hadn't slept all night, but after drinking a whole pot of coffee, she felt strangely energetic. They had received a distress call and Admiral Hackett had asked her to investigate. After working with Joker and Pressly on setting the course to the mission planet, Shepard wanted to see how Liara was doing. The thought of seeing the asari after a long night of hard work comforted Shepard. She found it relaxing talking with Liara.

Shepard saw Liara lying on her bio bed facing the back and not moving. She slowed down her steps to see if the asari was still sleeping. When she reached the other side of the bed, she found Liara crying while staring at nothing. "Liara?" Shepard called her softly.

Liara seemed startled, "Commander! When did you get here?"

Shepard bent down and put a hand on the asari's arm. "What's wrong? Are you feeling ill? Pain?"

Liara neither moved nor looked at Shepard, "Shiala came to talk, she told me about my mother and Saren."

Shepard found a chair and sat down. "Are you alright?" What a stupid question to ask, Shepard.

Liara sat up suddenly and freed her arm from Shepard's hand. "I am not alright!" This time Shepard was the one who got startled. "My mother is being tortured by that monster, and even worse, she is letting him do this to her! He has tricked her, a powerful asari Matriarch, to go on a killing spree, murdering people, leaving her loved ones behind, not caring if they live or die! How can I be alright, Shepard?" Her bellowing voice surprised herself as well as the human Spectre.

Shepard held back her own anger when she thought about the life on Sovereign as Shiala described to her and she tried to keep a calming voice for Liara. "He may be using her like he did with Shiala. She may not have control of her own will right now. But we'll figure something out, I promise."

"How? And why would you want to do that? She is your enemy, Shepard!" Liara's voice was full of fury. "How do I know you are not just using me to get to her?"

Shepard stopped in her tracks of telling Liara her plan with Shiala and her conversation with Anderson overnight when she heard Liara's last words. She stared at Liara's face. Shepard was shocked not because what Liara said hurt her feelings but the realization of what she said might be true. Since they picked up the young maiden, she had not once thought about what would be the best for Liara's future instead of what was convenient for the mission. She hadn't thought about what ramifications the eventual confrontation with the Matriarch would have on Liara, or if she should keep Liara on the mission and even on this boat. Shouldn't she have asked the asari what she wished to do instead of what Shepard wanted her to do and what she needed her for?

The realization shook Shepard deeply. Had she become a heartless tool whose only goal was to complete the mission? Had she forgotten what she was fighting for? She couldn't look the asari in the eye anymore; her heart ached so much because she felt she had hurt Liara. She would not become like Saren!

Shepard turned around and left the room hurriedly without saying another word.

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**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews and PMs. All comments, reviews, suggestions and PMs are welcome.


	10. Chapter 10 Seeking

**In Love and War**

**Chapter Ten – Seeking**

Liara woke up the next day feeling still groggy. She didn't get much sleep last night, spending waking hours in the dark med bay replaying the conversations with Shiala and Shepard. How she wished yesterday were nothing but a dream!

Dr. Chakwas walked in later in the morning as Liara was coming out of her quarters behind the med bay. She spent the morning searching for news of her mother and Saren's whereabouts on the Extranet, and found remarkably little. "You look like you can move around better today." Dr. Chakwas pointed the bio bed for Liara to lie down. "How are you feeling?" She checked the asari's eyes and tongue, then listened to her breathing. "I'm happy with your recovery. The Commander must have a magical touch when it comes to caring for you. If you keep doing well today, I will let you out tomorrow and back to your normal activities." Dr. Chakwas noticed the asari's shoulders tensing up when she mentioned the Commander. "You are awfully quiet this morning."

"I ... I think I have offended the Commander." Liara watched Dr. Chakwas putting a medical monitor on her arm.

"Oh?" the doctor looked up.

"I was, distraught after talking with Shiala about my mother, but it did not give me the right to be such a fool." This was not one of her usual blunders when interacting with the crew. The deep wounded feeling weighed heavily on Liara's heart. "The Commander has been nothing but kind to me. I am so ashamed and uncertain what to even say to her."

Dr. Chakwas finished putting the monitor on the asari and started the scanning process. "Why don't you just apologize to her? Shepard may be a tough soldier, but she has a very big heart. No matter what you said to her, she'll forgive you."

"If she will ever talk to me again." Shepard hadn't come and checked on her since she left in a hurry yesterday morning. Liara told herself it was because she had a mission to worry about and prepare for. She had hoped the Commander would come by last evening but she didn't. The longer Liara waited for Shepard the more afraid she was to talk to her and more at lost about what to say.

Liara had never noticed how quiet the med bay and mess hall were during a planet mission. With the ground crew were gone and everyone else either worked at their post or in the CIC monitoring and waiting for action, the entire deck was eerie with silence save for the low hum from the engines. But just like a sudden storm, the med bay turned into a scene of chaos as the ground team returned.

Shepard and Kaidan rushed in together carrying Pierce whose left arm was covered in blood. Garrus and Tali each had a wounded Marine hanging on their shoulders. Dr. Chakwas and her two part-time assistants were ready to take their patients.

"What happened?" In the midst of shouting Marines and staticky comm voices crackling through their helmets, Dr. Chakwas shouted her question.

With Kaidan's help, Shepard put Pierce on a bio bed carefully and then she bent and put her hands on the edge of the bed, panting hard to catch her breath. Kaidan was panting also holding onto the edge of the table behind the doctor. They had a long sprint carrying the wounded medic.

"It was a goddamn ambush! The distress call was a trap. Pierce was trying to patch up my leg when a Geth Sniper got me in its sight. She pushed me down and took the hit in her shoulder." She stopped panting and helped Dr. Chakwas strip Pierce's armor.

"Commander, I need to do a surgery now." Dr. Chakwas motioned a nurse to join her as Shepard stepped away from the bed.

The Marine Tali was helping had a wounded leg but he was trying to stop Tali from pushing him onto a bed. Shepard pulled Tali away and put a firm hand on the soldier. "What's the problem, Corporal?"

"Commander, I'm fine. It's just a scratch, I can take care of it myself."

"Charlie, you get on this bio bed, right now! That's an order!" the Marine stopped struggling. Shepard bent down to lift his legs up to the bed, but her own wounded leg faltered.

Liara had been sitting quietly when the chaotic storm rolled into the room. She slipped off the bed when she saw Shepard and the others bringing in the wounded. First she helped Garrus putting a soldier on a bio bed. When she saw Shepard slip trying to help Charlie, she immediately moved over and helped the Commander to lift the Marine's legs on to the bed. "Thanks, Liara." Shepard said softly without looking at the asari. Before Liara spoke, Dr. Chakwas's second nurse took over from the Commander and started to work on the Marine.

Shepard turned her heels and instructed Tali, "Go get with Adams to check on the stealth drive, hold it until Joker can get us out of the geth ships' scanning range. There are too many of them, we can't risk being seen." Tali nodded and took off in a jog.

Shepard turned to Garrus, "Vakarian!"

"Right here. Shepard!"

"Did the second Mako come in?" Shepard wasn't looking at him but checking her comm in her ear.

Garrus moved towards the door, "I'm on it, Shepard! I'll update you as soon as I can." Shepard gave him a grateful look.

"Kaidan, get Ashley in here. The doctor needs to take a look at her arm." Shepard pointed at the only available bio bed next to her.

"Commander, I've asked her to come up but she said she was fine."

"Lieutenant! I don't care what she said. You tell her it's a direct order from her CO and drag her ass in here if you have to!" Shepard barked.

Kaidan turned to leave immediately, "Ay, ay, Ma'am."

After Kaidan left, Shepard punched the metal railing on the empty bio bed in frustration. "Damn it!" She took off her gloves and wiped her face with the back of her hand. Liara had been standing by Charlie's bed, watching the Commander giving orders to her team. She'd never seen the Commander like this before. When Shepard wiped her face, Liara saw blood on her hand.

Liara quickly walked over to the desk next to the bio bed and took a small field kit to the Commander. "Commander, you have a gash on you face. Would you like me to take a look at that for you?" Shepard was replaying the ground mission over and over in her head, examining what signs she might have missed. _I should've been smarter than walking into a trap like that!_ She berated herself. When Liara quietly sneaked up on her, she jumped. Liara lightly tilted Shepard's face to scan the cut, Shepard looked into the asari's pure blue eyes and she turned away quickly.

"I'm okay, Liara. I can do it myself. Thanks." She backed up a step, removing her face from asari's hand, but she took the field kit from Liara.

The door opened again, and Kaidan pushed Ashley into the room. "See, I didn't make it up. The Commander did issue that order."

Ashley's irked face changed the minute she saw Shepard staring at her. "Sorry, Commander. I didn't mean to disobey your order. It really is just a scratch."

Shepard walked over to Ashley, the temper she had a minute ago seemed to have dissipated completely, and she led Ashley to the empty bio bed. Without saying anything, she carefully helped Ashley undo her armor to expose the wound. Everyone in the med bay seemed to relax a little with the Commander's mood change, except Liara who was struggling with a decision whether or not to talk to the woman. When someone came and helped with Ashley's wound, Shepard walked out of the med bay with a slight limp.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

The next morning, Shepard came in the med bay to check on her crew. She heard loud laughter and walked over to the group surrounding Pierce's bed. "What's so funny?" She seemed to be in much better spirits today with a smile on her face. Liara noticed the gash on Shepard's face still looked a little angry but visibly better than it was yesterday.

"Charlie was telling us his bar stories." Ashley wiped a small tear from her eye after she stopped laughing and she pointed at the Marine with a wounded leg.

"Commander, have you been thrown out of a bar?" The young Marine grinned.

"Don't tell me you can't hold your liquor, Charlie?" Shepard stood next to Pierce who was in sitting position with her arm in a sling but didn't seem to be in any pain or discomfort otherwise.

"I can hold my liquor just fine, Commander. It's the women I can't handle." After another round of laughter, Shepard replied, "They require a much more delicate touch, Corporal."

"Copy that Commander."

Ashley stood up, "I had a lot of work to do yesterday but someone pulled rank to stick me in here. I'd better get to it."

"Obviously that someone was right since Dr. Chakwas saw the need to keep you here overnight." Shepard winked.

"I only stayed to keep Liara company. If it were just these losers I'd been long gone."

Shepard looked over at Liara who was sitting in a chair on the other side of the bed and gave her a smile. Then Shepard raised her arm. "Hey everybody, good job yesterday! We took some hits, but we smashed a whole lot of them machines without any casualties. I call that a win!" All humans put their forearms together to bump the Commander's. "Oorah!" They barked in unison. Ashley and Charlie took off as Shepard shouted behind them, "Have fun with Wrex's battle station drills later today!"

Shepard turned to Pierce, "Where's Kaidan? I thought he was going to be in here last night. Otherwise I would have sat with you."

"I chased him off. He snored really loud and kept us all up." Pierce giggled. "Liara helped me when I needed it last night."

"Good." Shepard smiled at Liara again quickly and looked back at Pierce, "Lieutenant, I wanted to thank you for saving my ass yesterday. If it weren't for you, I…"

"Beg your pardon, Commander. What you did on Elysium … you avenged the murder of my family, you saved half of my friends' lives, and for that, no matter what I do in this life time or the next, I can never repay you."

Shepard's smile was replaced with a clenched jaw. "I lost many friends too on Elysium." Shepard put a hand on the medic's good shoulder. They both stayed silent for a few moments, neither wanting to talk about the painful experience.

Shepard was ready to leave and Liara stood up. "Commander, may I have a word with you?"

Shepard nodded but she didn't stop. "I'm waiting for some calls, walk with me to the comm room." Liara followed the Commander, noticing her limp from yesterday was gone.

Just as the duo reached the door to the comm room, Garrus and Wrex emerged from the stairs. Shepard brought everyone in. Wrex spoke first, "I don't think the Shadow Broker will be any help to us. He will likely want something in return, and that something won't be easy to get, or quick."

Shepard ran her fingers through her red hair in a slight frustration. "We don't have that kind of time, Wrex."

"I know. However I have my own sources on the Citadel. You want me to make contact?"

Shepard's face lit up. "I knew it. Do it, Wrex. We need to use our heads this time."

"And not just for butting either. You don't survive 300 years of mercenary work without thinking. That's not to say I don't enjoy the occasional head butt." Wrex started to plot his approach to the contact he had in mind.

"What about you, Garrus? Did you get anything from your old C-Sec contacts?" Shepard ignored the searching gaze from Liara.

"You know how useless those guys are, Shepard. But I got in touch with a Spectre who can lend a hand."

"A turian Spectre?" Shepard wondered how many of her peer operatives were aware of the truth about Saren and the impending doom that the Reapers might bring.

"Shepard, Saren has made enemies by killing Nihlus in cold blood. They want him to pay for his crime against a fellow Spectre."

Shepard allowed herself to have a sliver of hope after talking with Wrex and Garrus. _Putting what they can get together with Anderson's contact has got to get me somewhere._

She motioned Liara to sit down with her now that they were alone. "I've contacted everyone I trust to help us find a way to reach your mother without alerting Saren. Anderson had a good idea and he's made contact with someone who might be able to help us, and I'm waiting to hear what he has to say." She gave the asari's arm a firm squeeze. "With Wrex and Garrus' connections together we might just get lucky."

The comm light blinked before Liara ccould say anything. Shepard quickly jumped up from her seat and hit the answer button. David Anderson came on the screen. "Captain, what's the news?"

"Shepard, I've got something. Meet me at this location and this time on the Citadel. This can turn out to be a very solid lead." Anderson typed on his computer and Shepard's omni-tool beeped to receive the meeting information.

"Thank you, sir! You don't know how much this means to us. I will see you then."

Shepard's excitement was unmistakable even in the dimly lit comm room. She sat back down next to Liara. "As I was saying, if we get lucky and my plan works, you won't be in this mess for too long. We'll dock at the Citadel soon. If you have relatives or friends on Thessia or the Citadel, you can arrange for your future plans there."

"You … you are throwing me off the Normandy?" Liara's face was filled with disbelief and apprehension.

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**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews and PMs. All comments, reviews, suggestions and PMs are welcome.


	11. Chapter 11 Terra Firma

**In Love and War**

**Chapter Eleven – Terra Firma**

Shepard walked with Liara toward the Citadel Tower and explained. "I'm not throwing you off the ship. I'm trying to give you options."

"Options for what?" Everything was happening too fast for Liara. She didn't know if the Commander was still displeased with her. If not, why was she trying to get rid of her and why had she been trying to avoid her?

"Options to not be involved in this mess and let us soldiers do what needs to be done. I swear to you my commitment to save your mother has not changed and I will see it through." Shepard walked hurriedly, and Liara was trying to keep up.

When they reached near the tower, Shepard suddenly stopped. "But the more pressing thing right now is we have to meet with the Council. If it were up to me, I wouldn't let you go near those slippery politicians. But it's not up to me, I answer to them and I have to follow the rules. Otherwise I'm no better than Saren." She put a hand on Liara's shoulder, "I promise you I will not let you face them alone. I'll allow them to ask any reasonable questions, but if they are out of line, I'll step in and protect you. You have my word."

Shepard saw the three Councilors sitting casually on the round sofa in Tevos' office, she felt more at ease and happy with herself for inviting Udina an hour late. Liara dressed in her scientist outfit and she gave Tevos a traditional asari greeting. Tevos stood up and took Liara's hands, "Child, come and join us." Shepard let out a small sigh of relief, so far so good.

After the visitors settled in with the Councilors, Shepard updated them with what they saw on Feros and answered their additional questions. She made it a priority to point out Shiala's ability of imprinted minds. Tevos chimed in, "It's very rare among asari, but there are biotics who can be imprinted by many separate minds."

Shepard followed up. "If the Matriarch indeed had a backup plan, we should try everything in our power to realize that plan. If we are successful, the Matriarch will not only be a powerful ally but she will also be the only one who knows more about Saren's plan and locations than anyone else in the galaxy."

Tevos nodded, "I agree." She looked at the other two Councilors and she added, "However, if the plan is unsuccessful, Commander, are you prepared to face the Matriarch and eliminate the threat?"

Her words startled Liara who wasn't able to hide the horror on her face. Shepard was more prepared. "Yes, Councilor. The goal of the mission remains unchanged. We will protect the innocent people and colonies from Saren's attacks, and take out all threats including the Matriarch. But let's hope that it won't come to that." She gave Liara a look to calm her.

The turian Councilor nodded. "Good to hear you haven't swayed from your mission. Stakes are too high for any doubts and hesitations."

Shepard led the conversation to the Reaper threat. "The Reaper threat is real. According to Shiala, Sovereign is also controlling Saren. The ship is more advanced than anything we have seen before. We need to be prepared."

The salarian Councilor cut in. "Am I the only one here who thinks Benezia and Saren are in league together? We all heard the recording the Commander presented. Can Dr. T'Soni provide any evidence to prove that Benezia should be spared while Saren should be killed?"

Shepard explained more about Sovereign's indoctrination, but the salarian Councilor didn't have the patience. "Yes, yes. I heard that. Even if this acolyte can somehow un-indoctrinate her, how long can you guarantee she stays that way?"

After an hour of fruitless debate about Benezia's indoctrination, Tevos called an end to the meeting. "Without knowing anything tangible first hand, we will have to rely on Commander Shepard's judgment as the situation develops. Keep us posted, Commander. This informal meeting is adjourned."

While Shepard was frustrated with the Council's view on the Reaper threat and indoctrination, she was also glad that they had completely forgotten about Liara. As everyone stood up to leave, Udina walked in. "Where do you think you are going, Commander?" Udina demanded.

Tevos waved them off, "The meeting is over, Ambassador. The Spectre is dismissed."

"What? When did the meeting start? Who told me the schedule? I haven't had a chance to interrogate the traitor's daughter! I demand…" Udina raised his voice.

Shepard already walked into the elevator with Liara following her closely.

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Shepard walked briskly with Ashley and Liara in tow. This day had turned out to be very long and she still had to meet with Pierce at Doctor Michel's clinic to decide what medical upgrades the Normandy needed. Then maybe she could find something to eat on the Citadel and call her mother to see if the Kilimanjaro had docked. Hannah Shepard had told her daughter a few days ago that the dreadnought might make a trip to the Citadel soon.

As the trio walked toward the clinic, Shepard saw a group of humans gathering around a man who was giving a speech. "Humans are being killed in our own homes on our colonies, and our government and military turn their backs on us. What do they expect us to do? Take up arms ourselves? Hire mercenaries for protection?"

The man paused, and the crowd shouted, "Terra Firma to the rescue!"

Shepard muttered, "No, not you people." She started to veer away from the path, getting farther from the crowd.

But the man who'd been talking spotted her and shouted. "Commander Shepard!" He stepped off the ledge he'd standing on, walked toward Shepard, and his followers gathering behind him. "Charles Saracino, Terra Firma Party." He introduced himself, extending his hand. Shepard ignored him and continued on her path. "The hero of the Skyllian Blitz is getting cozy with traitor's daughter. What hope does humanity have if our most shinning star betrays us to our enemies? What happened on Eden Prime will surely spread to all of us!"

His followers bellowed, "That's right!" "Answer us!" "Traitor!"

Shepard stopped but she didn't turn around. Ashley whispered, "Skipper, these jackals ain't worth the trouble. You have enough of it already with the Council and the ambassador. You don't need more."

Shepard started the motion to walk away, hearing the man behind her yelling, "Maybe we will take the enemy out with our own hands." More shouting from the crowd, "yeah, take the blue bitch out."

The whole event had confused Liara because she had no idea who these people were. Judging from Shepard and Ashley's reactions, Liara got the idea that they were trouble. She kept herself as close to Shepard as possible. When they almost reached the front door of the clinic, she heard the mob threatening to take her out. Shepard halted suddenly; both Ashley and Liara had to force themselves to stop quickly before bumping into the Commander.

All three armed and armored soldiers turned back in unison, facing an increasingly rowdy human mob. Ashley stepped in front of Liara, and Shepard stepped in front of Ashley.

"You were on Eden Prime? You saw what happened there?" Shepard moved closer to the Terra Firma party leader, their faces inches apart. "Didn't think so. If you were there, you'd know that a whole platoon of Marines gave their lives to protect the people on Eden Prime. I lost a friend there. How about you stick to what you know and let the professionals do their jobs?" Shepard's voice boomed in the deep structure.

The man named Charles Saracino quickly wished he wasn't this close to a veteran soldier who seemed to carry more weapons than the number of his clattering teeth.

"You want to fight? Then pick up a rifle and join the Alliance. Put your wasteful lives to some good use." Shepard turned her body half way and pointed at both Ashley and Liara. "Every single member of my team risks his or her life every day so that what happened on Eden Prime won't happen again. And you think you have the right to point your fingers at my crew? You are a mockery of humanity!" As the crowd saw their leader's face turning ashen and his shoulders trembling slightly, some turned around and started to walk way as if they had to go somewhere in a hurry.

Shepard still stared at the thinning crowd with fire in her eyes, Ashley pulled on her arm. "Come on, they ain't worth the shit on my boot." Shepard reluctantly turned, eyes still darting daggers and her breaths still quickened.

As they walked into the Clinic, they saw Pierce beaming at them. "Commander, good news on the upgrades!" She quickly moved toward her superior, but her excitement disappeared as she saw the Commander's icy face and Ashley's pissed off expression. "What happened?"

Shepard had to force herself to calm the anger. It wasn't just because that sorry excuse for a man disrespected the memories of Jenkins and all the dead Marines from Ashley's squad, but he dared to insult her teammate right in front of her. All day Shepard had been trying to tell everybody off when it came to Liara. Liara hadn't done anything wrong. Why wasn't anyone trying to learn the truth before passing judgments? Was truth that scary? She felt saddened and tired. She was sad for Liara, for the position she was in. _I wouldn't know what I'd do if I were in her position, but I know I wouldn't be as strong as she is, wouldn't be able to take all the blows calmly._ Shepard silently admired the asari, she was proud the way Liara handled herself today.

Ashley started to recount what had happened outside of the clinic to Pierce. Shepard tapped on Liara's shoulder and pointed a corner of the empty examination room with her chin. They walked side by side into the room, out of earshot of the others. Shepard started softly but very sincerely, "I'm really sorry for what happened, Liara. You didn't deserve that. I should have shut them up the minute I saw trouble. I feel like I've failed you." Shepard looked into Liara's gaze then quickly lowered her head.

Liara had a hard time hiding the shock on her face. As Shepard spoke to her, she could tell how tired the human was, but she also saw the shame in her eyes. Liara wanted to cry. All day she'd had the urge to cry. What Councilor Tevos said was hurtful, what the salarian said was maddening, and the human ambassador talked about her as if she wasn't standing right there in front of him. But Liara steeled herself, she didn't cry. She would not play the victim because she saw Shepard and her crew fighting for her with every ounce of their being, they didn't treat her like a victim but they protected her like a friend. She wanted to fight along side of her friends. She had toughened herself in front the politicians, she wouldn't give them the pleasure to see her break; she ground her teeth when the crazy human group ready to attack her and didn't let out a trace of fear on her face. She could be tough, she was learning how, and she was learning fast. But now, the person who had been defending her all day, and ready to fight for her even when she seemed too tired to fight was apologizing to her, and even ashamed because she allowed Liara to be insulted, this broke Liara. Tears fell silently even when Liara tried her mightiest to stop them, but she couldn't.

Shepard looked up at Liara when she didn't hear any reply from the asari, and she saw Liara's face shiny with tears. "Oh, God!" Shepard breathed out, "Liara, I'm really sorry." She instinctively encircled the asari in her arms. "I should have sent you back to the ship earlier. You really didn't need this." The asari's shoulders started to shake. Shepard tightened her grip, cursing herself for not sending her back to the ship as soon as Councilors were done with their questions. The more Shepard apologized, the harder Liara cried. She wanted to tell Shepard that she wasn't crying because Shepard did anything wrong, but because everything she had done FOR her; that she wasn't sad because she felt alone but she was happy because she had found a such loyal friend and a wonderful group of people who were willing to stand by her no matter what. Liara wanted desperately to stop Shepard from apologizing, but she couldn't find her voice in the midst of watery outburst. By the time she calmed down enough to say something, Ashley walked quickly into the room almost dragging Peirce with her.

"Commander, you have to hear this! Pierce, tell her!"

After Ashley told Pierce about the confrontation with the Terra Firma leader, Pierce commented, "I should sic Emily Wong on him! She'll tear him to threads!"

Ashley clapped her hands together. "Oh, my god! You are brilliant!" Apparently Emily Wong had been the "insider" reporter throughout Pierce's music career, and owed quite a few favors for the exclusive pieces she had done on the young musician.

Shepard smiled at Pierce as she let go of Liara's shoulders so that the asari could wipe her face with cleaning pads on the examination table. "Pierce, you think you can pull it off?" Wouldn't that be the perfect justice!

"Only one way to find out, Commander!" Pierce tapped on her omni-tool, and Emily Wong's voice came on. "Hey Ems, it's Pierce."

"Hey, where have you been? I sent a dozen messages. You don't talk to me anymore? What's going on?" The reporter fired off questions.

"Ems, we will catch up. But I need an urgent favor. You know the group Terra Firma?"

"Do I know the crazy humans who waste precious air on every space station they land their dirt feet on? Yeah, I know every piece of dirt, piss and shit there is to know about them. What do you need?" When Emily Wong heard this was to help Commander Shepard, she cut off Pierce. "Be there soon." And the call went silent.

Ashley widened her eyes and looked at Pierce. "What did you do for that woman, Pierce?" Then she turned to the Commander, "And what did you do for her, Commander?" The mood lightened up in the room, smiles returned on their faces.

By the time Shepard finished going over the medical equipment upgrades with Dr. Michel and Pierce, it was quite late. The four Normandy crewmates walked out the clinic. Before they reached the elevator, they saw a few remaining Terra Firma people standing not far on one side of the elevator door. Emily Wong was standing in front of Charles Saracino, her hovercam aiming at his face with bright flashlight, making his face look like a white sheet. "Mr. Saracino, one more question. Are you and your wife separated?" Emily Wong shouted into her microphone.

"What? No! Who told you that?" Shepard glanced at his face again before hitting the elevator button. He was getting even paler. She smirked at the closed elevator door still listening to the dialogue behind them.

"Your wife told me." Emily Wong shouted again, unnecessarily loud but with noticeable satisfaction in her voice.

"What?" Shepard looked back again,_ is he going to faint?_ "W…where is she?" The man demanded weakly.

"You mean you don't know where your wife is, Mr. Saracino?" Emily Wong was unrelenting. "Who is taking care of your children, Mr. Saracino?" More people behind their leader disappeared quietly.

"Children? You know where they are?" The man sounded more than desperate now.

"How do you protect your family in these troubled times when you don't know where they are, Mr. Saracino? Mr. Sarcino?" The hovercam now was chasing the man who was trying to make his own escape.

The elevator finally came. Shepard and her crew walked in. As soon as the door closed, a loud laughter exploded and all of them bent down holding their stomachs. Ashley was pounding her fist on the wall of the elevator. "Oh, my stomach. It hurts so good!" Her eyes teared up as she tried to breathe through the laughter. She gave Pierce a high five and continued to laugh. "Did you see his face?"

"I know, I thought he was going to puke all over Ems' nice skirt. Oh, believe me! Ems would not like that at all." Pierce finally straightened herself up but still holding her stomach.

Shepard slapped Pierce on the back, "Well done, Pierce!" She turned to Liara whose face opened like a blue flower when she laughed. Wow, she looked so young and so beautiful, Shepard's heart stopped a beat and her breath caught. She felt an immense happiness seeing Liara laughing. All the weight of the day seemed to have been lifted by that open face and sparkling blue eyes.

Shepard curled her left arm around Liara's neck and her right on Pierce and Ashley's, and she roughly tugged them closer so that all their heads bumping together lightly. "Come on, let's go have some dinner! I'm buying."

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**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews and PMs. All comments, reviews, suggestions and PMs are welcome.


	12. Chapter 12 Lonar and Hannah

**In Love and War**

**Chapter 12 – Lonar and Hannah**

Shepard got up early the next morning to get ready for another full day's schedule on the Citadel. First she had to go undercover to help C-Sec bust an illegal weapons smuggling ring, and since they'd be in the neighborhood, she took Tali and Ashley to shop for some tech and armor mods.

The lower markets were already bustling when they got there. With ships docking at the Citadel at all hours, the markets never closed and they were always busy. Shepard let Tali and Ashley browse the kiosks while she leaned on the crates near an entrance to keep an eye on both lower level entrances to the market. She was still a little early to meet the weapons dealers, so she waited while watching Tali waving her hands and talking to a merchant. An old turian with a thin visor smeared with scratches and grease wandered toward her direction. She gave him a glare, judging from the look this wasn't the one she was supposed to meet with.

"If you are looking for new armor for cheap, I've got some great pieces for a tenth of the price you will pay here." The turian seemed to have finally mustered up enough courage to talk to Shepard. Shepard surveyed the turian's own armor, rusty with patched holes, but his weapon looked to be in decent shape.

She shook her head. "I don't think so."

The turian didn't give up, "How about some weapons?" He coughed, hunching a little. "I've got some newest prototypes that nobody has seen before. I don't usually offer that to just anyone, but you look like someone special." He coughed one more time.

Shepard looked at her friends who were engrossed in the product demos the merchants were giving them, and she checked the chrono. Seeing it was time for her to look for the weapons dealers, she pulled out a credit chit, "Look, I'm busy and I don't need any new armor or weapons. How about I give you a few credits and you leave me alone?"

In the corner of her eye, she saw a salarian giving the old turian a slight nod. The turian grabbed Shepard's arm, "Commander, please come with me."

Shepard's hand was now on the grip of her pistol, "Who are you?"

"Our mutual friend, Vakarian, mentioned you were looking for me." He still talked in a rugged voice, "I need you to wait for a couple of more minutes before making contact with your weapons dealers."

"You're the turian Spectre that Garrus contacted?"

Without another word, the turian pulled her behind the crates and he limped back a few steps. He waited for a few minutes, and when the salarian nodded to him again, he came back to Shepard. "Commander, you're clear to make contact with the scum. Come out of the market to the west side after and we can talk." With that, he limped away with a hunched back.

Shepard finished her undercover work and noticed the salarian wasn't there anymore. When she got to the spot the turian indicated, she saw the old turian standing behind a structural pillar in an alcove. She hurried over. The turian saw her coming, he took off his visor and an old ragged hood that covered only half of his head, and straightened his shoulders. His voice changed to a much younger and clear tone. "Commander Shepard, Lonar Maerun of Special Tactics and Recon at your service." Shepard extended her hand astounded by the change.

"Forgive the theatric, Commander. I've got my own mission. Not as famous and glamorous as yours of course. It requires certain anonymity." The turian said warmly.

"So you are saying I'm the only one with a bull's eye on my back?" Shepard thought for a moment, other than Nihlus, Saren and the turian in front of her, she didn't know any other Spectre operatives.

"Pretty much. The price to pay for being the first." The turian gave her a small smile. "We don't get on the news unless we screw up." His cocky expression gave Shepard the feeling that whoever this guy was chasing should find another galaxy to hide in. He checked his surroundings first, and then he took out an OSD and handed it to Shepard. "You do a lot of shooting and I do a lot of number crunching. I keep track of questionable corporations' financial numbers, their practices, trading partners and everything else I can dig up. Corporations like Binary Helix, Sonax Industries and others." He pointed at the OSD in Shepard's hand, "Before I bore you to death, the OSD has Saren's schedules at shareholders' functions and other tentative schedules. If there are any changes, I will get in touch with Garrus."

Shepard looked at the datapad, amazed to see all the details about Saren's finances and his whereabouts in the past, even more so looking at his future appointments. "Spectre, this is exactly what I need! I'll put this to good use. Saren will pay for what he did. And Maerun, I owe you one."

"I wish you luck, Commander!" The turian Spectre didn't waste any time. He put on his old visor and hood, and went back to his hunched posture. "You've already helped me. C-Sec can bust the weapons dealers, but we want to trace the manufacturers. My salarian partner traced the call those idiots made when you showed up just a little late." He smiled again smugly, "You didn't think I came all the way back to the Citadel from the Terminus Systems just for you, did you?"

"Course not. I wouldn't dream of that kind of special treatment." She smiled back.

The turian signaled Shepard to follow him, "Give me a little shove, would you?" They walked out of the alcove from behind the column. The turian started talking nonsense to Shepard again. The Commander gave him a light shove and applaused the turian silently for the staged hard fall to the floor.

Nodding to her crew to join her, Shepard had almost a joyful smile on her face. _I've got to remember to buy Garrus another bottle of that turian wine he's so fond of._

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Hannah Shepard was holding two shopping bags as she approached her daughter outside of their favorite restaurant on the Citadel. When she saw her daughter poking at her omni-tool while waiting for her arrival, a big smile spread on her face. "Sorry I'm a little late, Honey." She gave Shepard a kiss on each cheek as her daughter took the shopping bags from her.

"What are all these, mom?"

They walked into the restaurant where they had made reservation for dinner. "Oh, you mentioned your asari friend needed some clothes. I went shopping to kill time after the Kilimanjaro got in. Since I was getting you some new shirts and pants, I thought I'd get her some clothes too. You described how she looked, I took a guess at her size."

Shepard updated her mother about her mission and the challenges she faced, but what she really wanted to talk about was Liara. She had told Hannah over a holocall about meeting Liara on Therum and that led to the elder Shepard pitching in with shopping chores. When Shepard recounted the Terra Firma incident, her eyes became intense and her voice tight. "I got so angry when I saw those idiots insulting Liara." She took sip of her water. "When they threatened to hurt her, I was ready to take out my pistol and shoot every single one of them. I know I should be calm and I'm the first human Spectre and an Alliance Commander. I shouldn't have been rattled like that." She shook her head but still felt her temper rising at the unpleasant memory.

"Sweetie, you are also a human, Spectre or not, Commander or not. You see someone you care about being threatened, your first reaction is to protect them. Nothing wrong with that." Hannah put a calming hand on Shepard's. "It sounds like you do care a lot about this asari." Hannah had a nice smile on her face, remembering another old story of her daughter's - some things never changed. "Remember when you were in high school, you beat up a couple of bullies who picked on Felicia? You earned the scar above your left eye in that fight."

Shepard laughed, "Yeah, you should have seen the other guys. Wait, you did see the other guys and I seem to remember you were quite impressed."

"You had a crush on that girl and you were just trying to protect her. You were always a protector, sweetheart. It's still who you are." Hannah gave her a more serious look. "You are not having a crush on your crewmate, are you?"

Shepard looked down at her salad, "I don't know. When I see her, I don't want to take my eyes off her. But more so, I want to protect her. She isn't going to have an easy time before this whole mess is over, that much I can tell." She sighed. "And I'm giving her a way out of it if that's what she wants. She isn't a soldier, this isn't what she chose for her life."

Hannah felt for her daughter. Shepard always took other's needs upon her shoulders if she knew that was the right thing to do. And for someone she cared deeply about, she would throw herself into fire if that was what it took to help. "Do you trust her?" Hannah asked.

"I do. Her heart is pure, I can tell that for certain. With her upbringing, she could've been spoiled, without a purpose or even ruthless under the protection of her mother, but she isn't. She's smart, honorable, selfless and kind. I can't describe it, but when I look at her I'm in awe of what she has achieved and who she is."

Hannah hadn't seen her daughter so enthralled by anyone like this. "Just be there for her and do the best you can to help her, Honey."

"I will, mom."

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Shepard returned to the Normandy exhausted after a full day of non-stop activities, but feeling happy about her fruitful meetings. She still had to meet with Anderson and his contact and to see how Wrex's contact turned out, but now she could upload the info she received from Lonar to share with Wrex and Garrus, and ask for Tali's help with some data mining.

Shepard went back to her cabin with the two shopping bags that Hannah had given her and hopped in the shower. She wanted to turn in early. There was still much to do tomorrow. When she got out of the shower with only a towel wrapped around her, her door chimed. "Hang on a second!" She wondered who was still onboard at this hour when most of the crew were either dancing or drinking in a bar. She put on her working blues pants and a white tank top and she gave leave.

The door opened, Liara stepped in. "Commander, I saw you came in earlier. Am I interrupting?"

Shepard pointed at the sofa by the bulkhead, "No, please sit. Give me a minute." She picked up her towel on the bed and started to dry her wet hair. Liara swallowed watching the Commander but she remained silent. Shepard took one of the bags on her bed and gave it to Liara, "Here, these are some new clothes for you. My mom went shopping for us."

"For us?" Liara looked at the bag from Shepard, stunned.

"Oh, right. You don't know this about me. I hate shopping for civilian clothes, so my mom does it for me. I told her you needed some clothes because I was a bonehead and didn't take your personal belongings on Therum." Liara was beyond surprised and more than a little confused.

_Does this mean she changed her mind about throwing me off the Normandy?_

Persuasion was usually her strong suit, why couldn't she convince the Commander that she wanted to be here, with her? She must find the right things to say, she must! Staring at the Commander's red hair in wet curls, Liara's mind went blank. Realizing the Commander's gaze was upon her as though she'd been waiting for Liara to say something, Liara had to stop herself from spewing out some scientific data, on any topic … no, that wouldn't be appropriate. But was it better than saying nothing? Why was her mind blank?

"Commander, do you mind putting on a shirt?"

"What?" Shepard was waiting for Liara to take the shopping bag from her hand, but Liara looked like she wanted to say something, so she waited patiently for the asari to speak. But the young maiden simply stared at her, blinking her large blue eyes. _Why can't I look away from those eyes?_ The deep blue vortexes sucked her in and took her breath away. It was Shepard's turn to swallow when Liara finally spoke. "Oh, right." She turned around quickly to put on her working blues shirt. She cleared her throat and offered Liara a drink. "I thought you'd be out dancing with the crew at Flux or having a drink somewhere." Shepard put a glass on the table in front of Liara and held her own glass in her hand.

Liara seemed a little bit more comfortable now that Shepard was fully clothed, shifting once in her seat. "I tried contacting some of my mother's old acquaintances today as you suggested."

Shepard crossed her legs sitting in her desk chair, "Oh? Any luck with future plans?"

"No." Liara looked at the drink in front of her, not touching it. "I didn't ask them to take me in. I asked them if they had heard from my mother." She looked up at the Commander cautiously.

Shepard studied Liara's expression, wondering how long they'd dance around the question. But she decided to fill Liara in on the intel from her meeting with the turian and the potential leads she'd get from Anderson and Wrex. Liara listened to Shepard carefully. She took a large sip of her drink and finally asked the question. "If you do get what you need from these contacts, do you still wish that I leave your ship, Commander?"

Shepard didn't expect she'd struggle so much with herself. The right thing to do would be make the asari see the danger of the mission and the possible confrontation with her mother and spare her both by letting her go. But the thought of not having Liara on the Normandy weighed her down heavily, and Shepard was already quite tired.

Shepard's silence made Liara's jittery feeling in her stomach worse. She offered her long waited apology in a low but firm voice. "Commander, I should not have accused you of using me to get to my mother. I was very upset but I should not have offended you like that."

"No, you didn't offend me." Shepard lowered her gaze, she had been dreading this moment. The moment when she must admit her mistake to the person she was certain she had hurt deeply. "You reminded me what's right and wrong, and what I'm fighting for." She played with the glass in her hand without taking a sip of her drink. Finally she took a deep breath as if to gather enough courage. "I was ashamed when I realized I never gave you an option to choose your own path instead of putting you on a collision course with danger and the potential destruction of someone who's your only family. I didn't think what's best for you because I was so focused on the mission. I'm working hard to correct my mistake and I hope that one day you'll see me in a better light."

This was not at all what Liara had expected to hear from Shepard. She was certain that the Commander was mad at her for her unjust accusation, but instead she had accepted the guilty Liara put on her unfairly. How could anyone be so selfless? She didn't deserve to be Shepard's friend.

Shepard waited for the asari's response, but Liara sat in a stupor looking like she was about to cry. Shepard's heartache came back. She put her drink down on the table and sighed tiredly with sadness in her voice. "You know, I could have become a design engineer for spaceships or a history scholar or a bio-medical researcher, but I choose to fight on inhabitable planets, to get shot at and to risk my life everyday. I choose to do this because I want to make the galaxy a better place. A place where daughters aren't used against their mothers, one species isn't trying to wipe out another." She stopped, as though she had more to say, but she stopped and clenched her jaw. "But when it counts, I can't even make life better for my friend."

Shepard's melancholy affected Liara deeply. Why did she always hurt the ones she loved and cared about? The ones who loved her and cared for her? She hadn't realized that she was shaking with tears rolling down her face until she saw Shepard walking over to sit by her side, holding her shoulders gently while she cried. Liara turned to the Commander and wrapped her arms around Shepard's neck, "I don't deserve a friend like you!" She started sobbing.

Shepard closed her eyes and held the asari tightly. She squeezed Liara's shoulders and stroked her back and let her cry for a bit. "I guess we're even." Shepard tried to assuage the asari's mood. "If we both feel like shit, then we deserve each other." Liara laughed with tears still on her face. Shepard wiped the tears with her fingers and smiled at the asari.

"Does this mean you are not throwing me off your ship?" Liara asked again.

"Liara, I never wanted to throw you off the ship." Shepard couldn't hide the delight in her voice. "I only wanted to give you choices and let you choose your own path. I only wanted to protect you."

"I choose to be with you. I mean to be on the Normandy."

Shepard felt the weight lifting from every part of her body when she saw the asari's face turning into a gorgeous blue flower again.

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**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews and PMs. All comments, reviews, suggestions and PMs are welcome.


	13. Chapter 13 Aleena

**In Love and War**

**Chapter Thirteen - Aleena**

"So let me get this straight. You didn't kill the asari because you ran out of ammo and you thought she was killed when the ship blew up, but you got a message later from her telling you she was alive?" Kaidan's head was already hurting from his implants and this wasn't helping. "Why would she help us? And why shouldn't we worry about the Commander?"

"Shepard's fine." Wrex said in an even voice. He checked the small paper on an old shotgun cartridge, recognizing the location indicated on the note. "It's in the tunnels of the Citadel where nobody goes anymore. Only pirates and illegal arms dealers use them as warehouses."

"How could you possibly know that?" Liara's voice however was filled with anxiety.

"I did a job there once, escorting someone there and back." Wrex replied.

"No, I meant how could you possibility know that Shepard is alright?" Liara was kicking herself for not going with Shepard. Shepard had received a message while talking with Liara and she thought the message sounded strange when Shepard read it to her.

_"Come alone at this location at this time. You won't get what you want if you bring anyone along. See attached for details."_

Liara asked Shepard if she knew who sent the message, Shepard said she'd contacted several of her old buddies, and this could be any of them. "I'm coming with you."

With the crew still on short leave, Liara was the only ground team member onboard. "It's probably an old buddy playing a joke on me. Don't worry, I can take care of myself." She only took a pistol and wore light armor. Liara was waiting for Shepard to come back when Wrex called everyone to meet him here because he had received a message from the one who took Shepard.

"If she wanted Shepard dead, we'd see a body here instead a note." It didn't settle anyone's nerves, but Wrex knew it was true. He hoped it was true.

"Doesn't Aleena have a beef with you? Why would she grab the Commander instead of you?" Kaidan wished he knew more about Wrex's history with this asari. It'd give him a better idea what they were dealing with.

"Because she isn't stupid. She knows I'm not alone anymore. I have a Battlemaster. If she takes me instead of Shepard, it shows she's ignorant and disrespectful of the krogan tradition. Aleena isn't like that." Wrex said with a smirk.

"You make her sound almost noble." Kaidan said sarcastically.

"Noble or not, we won't get Shepard back if we are just standing around and talking about it. I will go and get both Shepard and the intel we are after." Wrex was getting impatient.

Liara spoke again, "I am going with you."

Ashley stepped up to them, "Yeah, me too."

Kaidan stepped in, "Wait a minute. When the Commander isn't out in the field with us, I'm in charge." Everyone looked at him waiting to see what he was going to say next. "I say we all go." Wrex snorted.

Garrus shifted a few times on his feet anticipating action. "Good. I'm not sitting here while you guys are having fun with pirates. Besides Shepard promised me a very nice bottle of wine. I intend to see her follow through on that promise."

"And if you're going to encounter locked doors and traps, you're going to need my help." Tali spoke slowly but with a firm tone.

Kaidan ignored Wrex's stare. "Then it's settled. We all go and we should take Pierce with us just in case."

Garrus slapped Kaidan's arm lightly with the back of his fingers. "You know Kaidan, you don't need an excuse to take Pierce."

Kaidan's face turned red, "It's an absolutely legit tactical decision. The Commander could be hurt."

Ashley let out a loud chuckle. "Legit tactical decision my ass."

Wrex gave in, "Maybe after we get Shepard we can all go out and get a drink."

Shepard woke up in a hot and dirty room with a nasty smell. She could feel the hard floor under her cracked ribs and a dislocated shoulder. She kept her eyes closed while assessing other injuries on her body. Her head hurt; she must have bumped it when she fell after the sedatives took quick effect. Nothing else hurt. Good! She remembered a dart hitting her neck, a large krogan throwing her against a wall and her kicking him in the leg. She opened her eyes to adjust to the lighting in the room.

Shepard watched a pair of solid combat boots moving fluidly toward her, as she tried to flip her body so that the weight lands on the good shoulder to prop herself up. But the large krogan standing behind her grabbed her shirt and lifted her up easily like a doll. Shepard gritted her teeth to not let out any sound of pain as she looked up at the approaching asari. "Aleena, it's a pleasure." Shepard said confidently.

"Commander Shepard. Do you always trust your lucky guesses this much?" The asari moved with a grace but her voice intended to intimidate.

"Not a guess, Aleena." Shepard tried to straighten her posture, not at all intimated. "Your krogan could have killed me 100 ways, stab in the gut, crack in the skull or shotgun bullets in various parts of my body. But no, he didn't do that. I'm guessing the dislocated shoulder and cracked ribs are a message to a friend of yours." Shepard paused and checked Aleena's face, no change.

"Secondly, he carries a very outdated shotgun that nobody has bullets for anymore. Nobody but another krogan I know. So it's either an impossible coincidence or you are letting me know who I'm dealing with." Shepard checked again. She swore she saw an opening on the asari's stony face.

"Lastly, the krogan's armor has an emblem representing a small branch of asari commandos from Thessia. I'm guessing he wasn't an asari commando, so it has to be from his master. And you are the only ex-asari commando I'm looking for right now." Shepard was grateful for the knowledge she gained about the asari commandos during the week training she had with them.

Aleena's steely stare disappeared, replaced by a smile that changed the image of her facial markings completely. "I see Wrex has chosen his Battlemaster exceptionally well. It's a pleasure, Commander." The asari moved closer, and Shepard could see that she was holding a small disc. "The information you're seeking isn't cheap or easy to get." She slipped the small disc into Shepard's front pocket.

"What would you like in return?" Shepard asked.

Aleena answered smugly, "Commander, I lack neither credits nor lucrative contracts. But a worthy competitor, I've got only one."

"Funny, that's what Wrex said about you." Shepard heard a chuckle from the asari mercenary.

Aleena turned half way and glanced at Shepard. "This one is on the house. You bring Wrex back from your mission alive, we'll call it even." Before she left, the asari nodded at the krogan who was still standing behind Shepard. "A small favor, Commander. You understand."

The krogan put a handcuff on the wrist of Shepard's good arm and linked it with a chain on the floor. Shepard saw the krogan swinging the chain over the beam above them and dragging her arm in the air just high enough so that her feet were slightly off the ground. Shepard fought back the pain from her ribs and wounded shoulder, and then she smiled at Aleena. "I understand that I'm a part of your message and it's a small price to pay. One request if it's possible." Aleena stopped and looked back at the woman dangling in the air. "Not the nose."

This time, Aleena laughed out loud. "Commander, if you ever quit being a public servant, I'll be happy to find a spot for you at my side." She turned and glided away.

The krogan tied the chain to the pole in the corner and came over to Shepard. With a nod, he slapped Shepard on the face with his strong hand, knocking the human unconscious.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Wrex found the place indicated in the instruction, the Normandy crew was surprised to see there were no guards outside. "See, I could have handled this by myself." Wrex grunted. Tali unlocked the door with a few taps on her omni-tool, and the group went inside, two by two, following Wrex and Kaidan. The structure seemed to have endless levels but no elevator.

"Where is the elevator?" Garrus asked.

"I'm scanning." Tali worked on her omni-tool again. "It's all the way in the back and there is only one."

"Great!" Kaidan let out a snort. "How do we know which level we are supposed to check? There must be hundreds of them."

Wrex shook his head, "Can't you feel the difference in the air density? Aleena must have taken her to levels with air regulators or this place can cook you alive." He started to climb the stairs.

Pierce and Liara followed behind them as Pierce remarked, "That's comforting."

The elevator was ancient, and before they stepped in Wrex stopped them. Tali scanned it, "It's rigged with explosives."

Kaidan shook his head, "Charming."

Wrex smiled, "She's trying to recreate our last fight. We'll have a good fight before we reach Shepard." Apparently he was the only one happy about this realization. Kaidan asked Tali to work on disabling the bomb while the squad moved up more stairs. When they arrived at a level where they could hear voices, Wrex popped his head up and then lowered it down quickly. He signaled two on one side and three on the other. The team split into two groups and launched attacks simultaneously. The fight wasn't as satisfying as Wrex had hoped for; he blamed it on the fact that this time he had plenty of help and ample ammo.

As the door to the last room opened, the team spilled in with their weapons leveled. The room was in complete darkness at first, then the motion sensor triggered and the overhead lights cascaded from the door to the deep end of the room. Behind some rusty crates, Shepard was hanging with one arm strung to a chain from a structural beam. Her head dangled as did her other arm, and her feet off the ground.

Liara cried out, "Shepard!"

The group rushed to their Commander, but Wrex spread his arms and stopped everyone just in front of Shepard. "Don't touch her. She could be booby-trapped, and we don't know the extent of her injuries."

Kaidan put Garrus and Ashley on each set of the stairs to watch for any trouble while he radioed Tali. "We found the Commander. She's alive, but if you don't disarm the bomb…"

Tali interrupted him, "Lieutenant, it's a very tricky timer. I could use another pair of hands." Kaidan left Wrex and the others to deal with the Commander and went to help Tali.

Wrex circled Shepard slowly. When he saw a few old shotgun ammo clips near Shepard's feet, he smiled at his old rival's sense of humor. He motioned Liara to kick them away, and when he was satisfied that Shepard wasn't booby-trapped he stood in front of the human, checking her face. "Just a few cuts and bruises."

Behind him, Liara's eyes broadened with terror, "What are you talking about? She's a mess!" Shepard's one eye was swollen shut, her cheek bruised, her lip cut and blood was dripping from her broken gum through her slightly open mouth, and her left shoulder was dangling in front of her body in an unnatural angle. Liara's heart raced when Wrex touched Shepard, and her body responded by swinging slightly on the chain. "Goddess, what did she do to her?"

Wrex patted the unbroken side of Shepard's face to wake her up. As the Commander slowly lifted her head, she groaned. "Shepard, tell me where she hurt you?" Wrex asked in a booming voice.

Shepard blinked a few times and coughed. "Hey, Wrex." She looked up, "I see you brought a few friends this time." She coughed again. "Aleena says you threatened to string her up on a beam?"

Wrex laughed out loud. "I see she is repaying the favor."

Shepard laughed too and then coughed once more. "She said when she got off the salarian space station, she had a dislocated shoulder, a couple of cracked ribs and a broken face."

Wrex nodded his approval. "So it's safe to get you down?"

Shepard nodded. "She was nice to me. I asked her not to touch my nose and she honored the request."

"Sounds like her alright." Wrex walked over to the corner of the room and released the chain.

Shepard fell into Liara's arms and Liara lowered her to sit down on the floor. "How can you say she was nice when she did this to you?" Liara said angrily as she carefully picked strands of hair soaked with blood that stuck on Shepard's face.

"Don't worry, Liara. I'm fine." She gave the asari a big smile but winced when her broken lip pulled apart more.

"You are not fine, Shepard." Liara held Shepard's cheek in her hand, Shepard couldn't help but give the asari a grin.

Wrex walked back to them. "We got the intel?"

Shepard nodded, "She said she missed ya."

Wrex loosened the handcuff and tossed the chain loudly into the corner, "I'm sure she didn't." Wrex started to walk toward the door. "At least there are no explosions this time."

"I'm guessing Tali has something to do with that." Shepard knew Aleena wouldn't miss a single thing.

Pierce squatted down next to Shepard. "Commander, this is going to hurt." She took Shepard's arm and asked Liara to hold on to her body tightly, then looked at the Commander.

Shepard nodded, "Lieutenant, this isn't my first rodeo. Do it."

Pierce suddenly pulled Shepard's arm and set the shoulder back into its socket. Shepard threw her head back in a muffed scream, gripping Liara's arm tightly.

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**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews and PMs. All comments, reviews, suggestions and PMs are welcome.


	14. Chapter 14 The Asari Consort

**In Love and War**

**Chapter Fourteen – The Asari Consort**

Back on the Normandy, Shepard let Tali go over the data on Aleena's disc while Dr. Chakwas checked on her injuries. Liara wasn't letting Shepard out of her sight, not after the meeting with Aleena. It came as a surprise to her when Dr. Chakwas let Shepard out of the med bay and back to her quarters to rest.

Liara followed Shepard closely, which Shepard found quite endearing. "Liara, you don't need to watch over me. All I got are some cuts and bruises."

Liara maintained a miserable expression while she protested. "Cracked ribs?"

"Bruises." Shepard replied quickly.

"Dislocated shoulder?"

"Bruises."

"Broken face and a bump on your head?"

"Cuts and bruises. See, got it all covered." Shepard gave Liara a sweet grin. "I feel great now that we've got that data. I think I'll go and start a boxing match with Garrus. I can knock him down with one eye closed." She pointed at her swollen-shut eye.

Liara couldn't help but laugh. "Shepard, you are impossible!" Liara's laughter added an extra bounce to Shepard's step as they walked to her quarters.

Once inside, Liara started to arrange the pillows and pull down the covers for Shepard to lie down. Shepard stopped in the middle of the room. "Liara, I can do all that by myself, you know. You're not my servant."

"You are not my servant either, but when I was injured you took care of me." Liara gave Shepard a determined look and then she walked over to her. "I will get you something to drink and eat. What would you like?"

Shepard shook her head, "I can get that myself too." Seeing the asari's stubborn face, "I'm not hungry. How about some tea?"

Liara smiled as Shepard gave in to her persuasion. "I will get us both tea to share."

When the asari came back with two cups of tea, she found the human with her under armor wrapped around her arms above her head, groaning. Liara put the teacups down quickly on the table and turned to the Commander. "What are you doing?"

"I'm stuck, can't you see? Help me!" Shepard shouted in frustration from inside her trap, her voice muffed by the thick under armor fabric.

Liara chuckled, "Now you see why I did not leave you alone?" She ran her fingers across the cloth trying to find the zipper, and she unzipped it quickly. Shepard's arms fell in sudden freedom and hit her cracked ribs. She yelped and bent down a little, holding her chest. Liara cradled her shoulders, the smile gone from her face. "Shepard, I am sorry. Here, sit down."

Shepard took a few short breaths and let Liara lead her to sit on the edge of her bed. Her complexion turned a little paler from the pain, but she tried not to show it. Liara took a cup of tea and put it in Shepard's hands. Seeing they were shaking slightly from the pain, Liara enfolded Shepard's hands and the teacup gently with her own hands, waiting patiently for Shepard's pain to stop. When Shepard's breathing evened, Liara let go of her so that the Commander could drink her tea. Shepard suddenly regretted that her pain was gone.

Liara took her own cup of tea and sat next to Shepard on the bed. They drank in silence for a while, and Liara looked at Shepard for a moment, "Can I ask you a question?"

Shepard looked back at Liara with one good eye. "Sure, ask away."

Before Liara opened her mouth again, Joker's voice came on the speaker, "Commander, ah… someone is at the airlock asking for permission to come onboard."

"Who is it?"

"She said she's the asari Consort?"

Both Shepard and Liara called out together, "Sha'ira?"

Joker confirmed. "That's the name."

Shepard looked at Liara, "Did you contact the Consort about your mother?"

Liara nodded, "I did. She and my mother are … were close friends. But she told me she had not heard from my mother. She was once my mentor but she seemed distant when I saw her the other day."

Seeing Liara getting anxious, Shepard tried to calm her. "Let me talk to her first. Maybe she's here for something else. I've done a couple of favors for her before."

The door to the decontamination chamber lifted to reveal a hooded figure. Shepard moved to greet her guest. "Consort, welcome to the Normandy."

The figure took off her large silky hood and moved closer to the Commander. "Thank you for granting me the privilege of visiting your ship, Commander. She is indeed magnificent."

Sha'ira glanced at the Commander's bruised face, Shepard couldn't help but confess. "Excuse the broken face, life of a soldier…"

"Beauty grants only a glimpse to the enlightened, Commander. And only the enlightened can see beauty beneath the surface. You need not apologize." She gave Shepard a small smile. "I'm here with a troubling matter, one that concerns the young Liara T'Soni. May I speak with her?"

Shepard escorted the Consort to the Starboard lounge while asking Joker to inform Liara of her guest. When Liara came into the lounge, Sha'ira stood up from the long sofa and gave Liara a warm asari greeting. "Liara, first please accept my apology for retreating behind my busy schedule when you visited. I was not prepared and my chambers were hardly the place for this conversation." The Consort gave a very brief glance to Shepard who was getting some water flasks behind the bar.

Without waiting for her guest to sit down, Liara eagerly asked, "Do you have new information for me?"

Sha'ira motioned for Liara to sit in the chair close to the sofa and sat down herself. She put a hand on Liara's knee, "Liara, what I'm about to tell you could change one's view of the Matriarch. It's perhaps wise we talk alone."

Shepard walked over to the pair carrying two water bottles. She put them on the table and faced Liara. "I'll be in my quarters if you need me." She turned around to leave, but Liara stopped her just before the door opened. She put her arm around Shepard's good shoulder and walked her back so that they stood in front of the Consort side by side.

"Sha'ira, you have provided me with invaluable support many times in my life when I needed them the most. I trust you and I know you care for me." She waited for the Consort to nod her agreement. "Commander Shepard is providing me with the same support I need right now. She must know everything I do about my mother in order to help her. I trust her with my life and certainly with my mother's reputation."

The Consort's calm face and warm smile remained unchanged, but she was actually quite impressed that the young asari had made a powerful friend in such a short time. _A lot like her mother._ The thought warmed Sha'ira's heart as she had always thought that Benezia protected Liara like a devoted mother bird to her baby chick, yet somehow lacked a certain gentle touch.

When Benezia ran into trouble with Liara, she sometimes sought help from her closest friends. Sha'ira was among the small group of friends she could entrust to guide her daughter. While Benezia appeared grandiose and sometimes imposing to those who sought wisdom and guidance from her, Sha'ira exuded tranquility and an undeniable calm so inviting that even the strongest minds would surrender willingly.

It was deceptive at first when Liara took immediate liking to Sha'ira and accepted her guidance much easily than she did with her mother. But the more she peeked behind the calming presence, the more Liara was convinced that Sha'ira's mind was as powerful as her mother's and her biotics almost as strong.

The young Liara was once convinced that behind the pleasing smile and accepting attitude laid a very astute observer or even a deadly assassin. She suspected the Consort was a spy for the asari Matriarch governing body. She fancied the exciting adventures Sha'ira must have encountered while on dangerous pursues of super villains; and she imagined there was a secret armory underneath the Consort's Chambers that was secured by a hidden switch behind the large heart shaped sofa, and it could only be unlocked by the locket Sha'ira always wore. During one of the visits to the Consort's Chambers with her mother, Liara actually made an excuse to pretend browsing the art on the wall and wandered behind the sofa, searching discreetly for the secret switch to the secret door.

"Keep your steps graceful and your expression pleasant, but don't dim the fire within your heart." Sha'ira once advised Liara after she had yet another defiant moment with her mother. "You are special, Liara. And your mother knows it."

"Sometimes I feel that my mother wishes for a different kind of daughter." Liara had sent her applications for University of Serrice to study archeology and her mother had voiced her disapproval.

"You think your mother would be happier if her daughter obeyed every one of her wishes?" Sha'ira quizzed the young maiden.

"I think she would throw a celebration!"

"No, she wouldn't." Sha'ira couldn't tell the young maiden how proud the Matriarch was of her daughter. Even though mother and daughter had different views of Liara's career choice, Benezia was constantly praising the young asari's amazing ability to see wisdom where others easily missed. But Sha'ira knew it too well that this was something between mother and daughter, and they had to find their own ways to express it. "If you had such a craven mind and pitiful will, your mother would have considered herself a failure at raising a daughter."

When Shepard joined the asari by sitting in the chair next to Liara, the Consort sat back in the sofa so that she could face both young people. "Very well." There was a long pause, and Sha'ira's calming face changed to something else. "You mother did come to see me a couple of month ago at my chambers." That grabbed the attention of both the human and the young asari. "She … she's changed."

Shepard had only met Sha'ira a few times but she had never seen her without her placid composure. She had a nagging feeling that Liara wasn't going to like what the Consort had to say.

"She told me she has joined Saren Arterius to embark on an extremely important journey. Saren has come to possession of a ship that she was living on with a few of her followers, and their quest is to save the galaxy. She didn't give me other details." Sha'ira took a long breath. "That was before the news about Saren attacking human colonies." She didn't want to say 'with Benezia's help'; she didn't want to believe her long time friend would be an accomplice to such atrocities.

"What did she want with you?" Shepard could sense Consort's unease. Something bad must have happened in that meeting with the Matriarch for someone like Sha'ira to be so rattled.

"She wanted information on Prothean technology." Sha'ira explained. "I had a client who was a Prothean researcher. He visited me often, most of the time he just needed to have someone to chat about his work and his life since he often spent years on remote digs and talked with no one." She looked at Liara, "I can't reveal his name, especially now that I know Saren is after him." She shifted her gaze to Shepard, "To answer your question, Commander. The Matriarch wanted the information my client shared with me. It'd take them months if not years to track down my client who often roams on remote planets. The quickest way to get the information Saren wanted was through me."

Once again, the Consort stopped, this time not to use the pause to attract the attention of her listeners but dreading what she was about to say next. "I refused to share the information with Benezia as that's one rule I won't break as long as I live." She sighed with a frown. "This is difficult for me to tell you, child. Your mother and I are old friends, even confidants at times. We sometimes meld to share memories, and Benezia always shared memories of your activities with me when I couldn't make to an important event, like your graduation. She suggested melding during her last visit. I was hesitant at first but I agreed. Benezia looked so gloomy, her voice desolate and her eyes barren of any warmth. I wanted to help her and thought knowing her troubles might give me some insight on how to help her. But … but …" Sha'ira's voice trembled and her pained expression sent shivers to Liara's body. "She tried…to force…"

"Stop!" Liara shot up from her seat and walked way from the Consort. "No, that is not possible!" Her voice was deep with conviction.

Sha'ira quickly continued. "She didn't. I possess much stronger mind and biotic power than most people realize. I ended the meld immediately after I felt her intentions. Benezia stormed out with a warning. 'You've doomed the galaxy!'"

As if she had accomplished an important task, Sha'ira let out a long sigh and stood up from the sofa. Looking at Liara whose back was still turned to them, she wants to offer comfort or advice that might help the young maiden. Invading one's mind was after all an unspeakable act that only used by the most hideous characters in the most ghastly crimes. For once, Sha'ira found she had nothing to offer the young asari. She turned her attention to the human soldier, hoping that perhaps she could provide some relief for her young friend, or at least stand by her when she was suffering. The messy galaxy had just gotten messier.

"Commander, I believe I've taken enough of your precious time." Sha'ira put her calming presence back on and gave Shepard a nod. She turned to the young asari, "Liara, help your mother when you find her."

Shepard followed the Consort out and walked her to the airlock. As they waited for the decontamination door to open, Sha'ira shared with Shepard. "The Matriarchs on Thessia and the Citadel are in disarray. Needless to say the news of Benezia has created tidal wave among our leaders. They're afraid, afraid when our leaders fall, the rest of the galaxy will follow."

Shepard had been thinking about the scope of the events unfolding right in front of them. The discovery of Sovereign was much bigger than Benezia and Saren. She wondered how many wheels the event had set in motion and how many believe that the Reapers really existed and that they were coming to destroy everything. This wasn't going to be a war where soldiers saved the civilians, it was going to be a war where everyone hasd to pick up a weapon and fall in line. There was no other way.

With a confident voice, Shepard replied to Sha'ira. "No, when leaders fall, someone else will pick up the flag and become leaders. Each one of us has to do our part to ensure the survival of the galaxy. This will be a war where nobody can stand on the sidelines. I hope the Matriarchs can see the truth and prepare their people."

Sha'ira let out a surprised glance before putting her hood back on. "Commander, your wisdom humbles me. I will convey your resolve to the Matriarchs. And please, help Benezia."

After escorting the asari Consort off the ship, Shepard hurried back to the lounge. Liara was standing in front of the window, and Shepard lingered by the door, not knowing what to say. Her resolve in keeping the young asari on this difficult quest was wavering. Abruptly, Liara hit the window with her hand, startling Shepard. "This is not my mother, Shepard. This is not her!" Her voice broke.

"Shepard, my mother is a powerful biotic, she is ambitious and she has strong convictions, but she is never ruthless. I would not love her as much if she were so heartless and … evil."

Shepard walked over and stood next to Liara, their arms almost touching. "Shepard, come! I want to show you something." Liara grabbed Shepard's hand with sudden urgency and led her to the long sofa. When they sat facing each other, Liara held both Shepard's hands, looking deeply into Shepard's eyes and pleading. "I want to show you something, please. Close your eyes and relax. Embrace eternity."

In a moment, Shepard saw Liara on a small hover-bike, overlooking a small mountain with luscious jungles, colorful plants and waterfalls rushing into the deep dark pool at the foot of the mountain. Liara's face was wide with a smile and wonder. "It is beautiful, mother!"

She looked to her left, Benezia on her own hover-bike smiled back at her daughter. "It is indeed, Liara."

Liara pointed at a group of birds circling the mountain near the top and flying away from their view. "Look, the mil'ugens are back! I can look at this forever!" Liara shouted with joy. Hearing loud giggles from her mother, Liara looked at her. Her mother looked beautiful in a long yellow dress with a shoulder-length scarf that was dancing in the wind. She looked gorgeous when she smiled. Liara challenged, shouting over the loud sound of the waterfalls below them. "Do you remember when I was little, you always let me win every hover-bike race?"

Benezia looked at her daughter's bright smile, and she threw her head back in a laugh. "Liara!" Before Liara had time to react, Benezia bit down her lower lip, pulled hard on the thrusters of the hover-bike and shouted loudly. "Catch me if you can, Little Wing!"

Liara squeaked and pulled hard on the thruster of her own bike and stood up from her seat yelling loudly at her mother. "I am coming for you, mother!" Her laughter was louder than the wind and the bike's ion engine.

When Liara's eyes turned back to blue, Shepard found herself giggling. Her smile disappeared when she saw the present Liara in front of her, her eyes still pleading, and the mirthful memory of mother and daughter's last vacation held no lasting effect.

"Shepard, would you please believe me when I tell you my mother would not invade another mind like that, she would not! If you know who she was, if only you had seen her before … before …" She ran out of breath and her cheeks flushed.

Shepard held Liara's face with her hands. "Breathe, Liara, breathe." Shepard took long breaths together with the asari. "Good! Listen to me, Liara. I can clearly see what Sha'ira said was serious, but it doesn't lessen my resolve to try and help her."

Liara's eyes searched Shepard's. "Do you believe me?"

Shepard nodded, "Nothing has changed, Okay?" Shepard let go of Liara's face after she got a nod from the asari.

Liara sagged on the sofa, "If only that were true." Her voice barely above whispered, "It is a monstrous thing to do, every asari knows that. And Benezia is not a monster."

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**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews and PMs. All comments, reviews, suggestions and PMs are welcome.


	15. Chapter 15 A Crazy Asari

**In Love and War**

**Chapter Fifteen – A Crazy Asari**

Before 0600 in the morning, Kaidan was finishing up his short night shift and tidying up reports and logs for Joker to take over. He didn't sleep last night; after going to the Blasto movie with Pierce they went for a night walk on the Presidium. He smiled when he remembered last night.

Kaidan was quoting lines from the movie to Pierce while she was eating popcorn left from the movie theater. Watching Pierce tossing one piece of popcorn at a time into her mouth, he smiled. "How long do you think before Blasto stops shooting and checks the heat sinks on his weapons?"

Pierce answered quickly, "Who cares? He's got a gun in every tentacle!" They both laughed. Pierce stopped chewing her popcorn as they wandered to a small bridge overlooking the lake. She walked over and leaned on the railing.

"Even though you know it's manmade, it's nice to see a quiet lake in the middle of steel and concrete, isn't it?" Kaidan stood next to her.

"Reminds me a large lake I used to love on Elysium. There were willow trees by the lake, with their reflections hanging over the water. It looked beautiful in the morning. I used to go there at around 0600 to practice my violin, and get lost in the smell of the trees and flowers in the summer and the sound of ducks in the spring. I would play my music for a couple of hours, and usually ended up with a thick crowd of people gathering around and listening. It was a magical theater better than any grand concert halls I've ever played in." She closed her eyes and breathed in, "I can remember the smell like it's right here." A smile spread on her face.

"That sounds beautiful." He wished he had heard her play. He closed his eyes too and imagined music flowing under a willow tree across rippling water, like the girl's long dark hair floating with the music she was making. The image brought a smile to Kaidan's face.

As the memory brought the same smile back, Kaidan heard the comm console beeping. _It's not even 0600 yet, who's calling so early?_ When he heard Captain Anderson's request to talk to the Commander, he immediately got on the ship's comm. "Commander, Captain Anderson is on a secure line. He says it's urgent." Hearing the Commander's reply in a sleepy voice, Kaidan handed things to Joker. "I have a feeling our shore leave is going to be over soon."

Shepard eagerly walked to the comm room, still trying to straighten her working blues shirt. "Captain, are we still on today?" Shepard could see C-Sec personnel doing checks behind him in his office. "What's going on Captain?"

"We're not meeting today." Anderson talked quickly when he was irritated. "Shepard, someone hacked into my computer. They downloaded my schedules and some messages. I don't know what else. C-Sec is trying to get to the bottom of this. But in short, the contact I was going to have you meet with balked and she sent me a message on my personal line saying that she's going to a facility on Omega. I don't know what this is about, but someone has sent her a note through my computer. Go find her; she could be in trouble. And Shepard, be careful. I have a bad feeling about this." He paused and signaled the C-Sec officers to move out of earshot range, and then he turned back to Shepard and whispered. "Her name is Gianna Parasini and I'm sending you her location through my personal channel directly." He tapped on his omni-tool to give Shepard the info. "I will update you when I know more."

Two hours away from the Citadel space, Shepard was sitting on a bio bed in the med bay for Dr. Chakwas to check on her recovery. It's part of the bargain she made with the doctor to stay out of confinement. The swells on her head and face had gone down considerably, and only some dark bruises were left on her cheek and the side of her rib cage. "Your eye still has some liquid to absorb," Dr. Chakwas pushed away the eye exam monitor and gave a last look at the Commander's still blood-shot eye. "Please stay away from trauma for a while."

When Tali and Liara walked in the med bay, Dr. Chakwas was just finishing up her exam of the large bruise on Shepard's side. Liara walked over and took a closer look with the doctor holding up Shepard's shirt. "That's a very deep bruise."

"It's nothing." Remembering that Liara didn't like her in a tank top, Shepard immediately grabbed her working blues shirt and put it on.

Liara's eyes moved above the bruise and they grew wide. "Your given name is Fiona?" Shepard's dog tag was dangling outside of her white tank top and Liara was staring at it with her head tilted. "All the reports I read have F. Shepard on them. This answers the question I was going to ask you."

Shepard quickly pushed her tags inside and buttoned her blue shirt. Ignoring the smirk Dr. Chakwas was trying to hide, she jumped down from the bio bed without wincing at the pain she felt from her ribs. She stood in front of Liara with both hands on the asari's shoulders, their faces inches away.

"Liara, you are one of us now, and that means I've got your back no matter what. But if you ever, ever call me by that name again, I will kick your ass so hard…"

"But why?" Liara looked into Shepard's serious eyes and matched them with hers in sincerity. "It is a beautiful name!"

Karen Chakwas couldn't hold it any more. She laughed, but then she stopped herself, "Sorry, Commander." Then laughed again.

Tali had both of her hands covering her facemask when Liara blurred out the name, and then she decided the Commander needed a little help. "Shepard's embarrassed because she thinks the name is extremely girlie. Well, you were a girl when you were born. How would your mother have known that you'd turn into a bad ass Marine who wears bad ass armor, carries bad ass weapons, kicks bad guys' asses with your bad ass friends?" She'd heard the same threat from Shepard after she first discovered the name, and she was hoping if she piled on "bad ass" enough times, it'd help her cause.

Shepard's face turned red and her breathing deep. She glanced at Dr. Chakwas then Tali, but her gaze returned back to Liara. Still with her hands on the asari's shoulders, she drew a long breath, but before she could spill her next words, Wrex and Ashley chose to walk in at the very moment. Ashley asked, "What's going on here?" Nobody wanted to say anything under Shepard's intense stare.

Wrex ignored the situation and went straight to the point. "Shepard, this is Omega. We need ears, eyes and a plan; and it'll be hard to avoid Aria's own eyes and ears if we make too much noise."

Shepard sighed and let go of Liara, but not before saying, "We'll talk about this later." She looked at Wrex, "So we'll need maps and blueprints of the warehouse. Do you have anything on that area?"

Wrex shook his head, "I have maps for all areas of Omega, took me years to acquire them, but my map is only one version."

Tali was surprised, "What do you mean one version? There are other versions?"

Wrex nodded. "Navigating Omega is very tricky. Many parts of the city don't have straight roads and are riddled with hidden passages. You can buy maps or blueprints of certain places from different sellers, but chances are they all look different. Unless you've been there yourself, you won't know how to get there, especially if the place is well hidden. The warehouse Shepard wants to go isn't near any main districts or corridors."

"They sell maps that aren't maps?" Tali had only been on Omega once and she was hiding for the most part.

Wrex grunted, "That's probably what Aria wants. The best way to get people to come to her for intel is to put out misleading info herself."

"Very shrewd." Liara chimed in.

"I'll say." Ashley had never been on Omega but she already knew that she wouldn't like the place. She cleared her throat and spoke cautiously, which was rare for her. "Skipper, I mentioned about the rescue mission on Omega to Shiala. She says she knows some contacts there."

"Oh? Is she willing to help us?" That grabbed Shepard attention.

Ashley nodded and talked faster now. "Commander, I've asked her to wait outside in case you are interested in what she has to say. You want me to ask her in?" Shiala had moved out the temporary brig after they docked at the Citadel and she is now bunking with Ashley. The pain from the Thorian indoctrination had been minimal with some help from Ashley and a grueling meditation routine she followed everyday. Shepard nodded her head, and Ashley brought in Shiala.

Shiala gave the room a nod and talked directly to Shepard. "Commander, I have a contact on Omega. I'm fairly certain I can get the directions to where you need to go."

Shepard walked closer to her, "We can trust your contact?"

"Yes, she is my half sister and she has been working as a messenger on Omega for a long time. She knows the city better than most." Shiala replied confidently.

"That's better than what we've got so far. The quicker we get to Gianna the quicker we can leave the station. I don't want to alert Aria if we can avoid it. Wrex, you and I take Shiala to her sister. We leave Alliance personnel onboard until we need them. Let's hope that this is an easy grab job." Shepard quickly devised a plan.

After dismissing her team, Shepard took a box of ointment Dr. Chakwas had given her to put on her bruises and left the med bay. Liara followed her and offered to help with the cream. It surprised her that Shepard didn't turn down her offer.

Shepard motioned Liara to sit on the sofa, "I actually wanted to talk to you." She tossed the medicine box on her desk, moved her desk chair near Liara and gingerly sat down. "I don't like the mission we are about to face. Omega is a dangerous place. When we're there, I want you to stay on the ship."

Liara stood up and took the medicine box. She squatted down next to Shepard and lifted her shirt up. "Have you been there before?" She took a small amount of cream with her fingers and lightly rubbed it on the dark bruise.

Shepard straightened her posture, holding her shirt up for Liara. "Once, on a charity mission. Except it wasn't a charity mission. The minute I saw the team assembled there, I knew it wasn't a simple medical supply drop. The CO of the ops was a turian, and we had salarian STG guys, and a couple turian advanced combat soldiers. After dropping off the medial supplies at some hospitals and clinics in Gozu district, the salarian guys took us to the old mines down below the city."

"I've always wondered what those old abandoned mines were like."

"Dark, smelly and stale air mostly. I spent a week in that stale air with a nasty knife wound. It wasn't fun I can tell you that." Shepard lifted her tank top to reveal a long crescent scar on her back that made Liara gasp. "The real mission was to nab a Lystheni girl for the STG guys. But she wasn't alone hiding down there."

"Isn't that a different kind of salarian branch? Some of them live much longer than the general population."

Shepard nodded. "The mines were hard to navigate with too many people, so the squad decided to send me in to trick her out since I was the only female on the squad. They said she was some kind of terrorist. But it turned out she was a runaway escaping from medical experiments that were done on her. A bunch of her friends ganged up on me, and one of them cut me with a long knife. I could have killed them all, but I let them hold me for a week as a hostage until they found another way out."

Liara stared at the human for a moment, and then she resumed the gentle rubbing of the cream on Shepard's bruised cheek in small circles. The more she knew about the Commander the more she was in awe of the human. She was fearless when it came to her own life yet she was ceaselessly worrying about Liara's safety. How could she have ever doubted if Shepard would help her?

Liara's doubts usually came at night, when she wa alone in the small lab behind the med bay, when the frightening thought of her mother becoming someone she didn't know any more crushing down on her like a biotic throw; when the fear crept into her mind every time a news report came in, the fear of Saren terrorizing another colony and committing murders, and her mother standing along side of him. Alone in the dim space of the small lab, Liara often let a part of her mind slip into the forefront, the part that was filled with doubts, hopelessness and despair. But during the day, when she was with Shepard, when she looked into Shepard's eyes, the dark part of her completely disappeared; any insecurity, any hesitation, any apprehension that tormented her at night vanished in the blink of these green eyes. Some times during sleepless nights when Liara cried alone in the darkness of the small lab, she longed to look into those green eyes.

Shepard straightened her shirt when Liara finished her gentle rubbing of the medicine. "Anyway, it's dangerous there and I don't know who is working against us. And after what Sha'ira told us, I'm having doubts again about keeping you onboard. I want to keep you safe."

Liara sat back on the sofa facing the Commander. "Shepard, I would not have imagined to be in this situation in a thousand years. I have always wanted to find a worthy purpose in my life and I thought I had found it in my Prothean research. With all that has happened in the past few weeks, meeting you and being on the Normandy, I realized this is my path. If this is to be my fate, I will accept it and I will not back down." Liara held Shepard's gaze with a determined look. "Promise me you will not turn me away again."

Green eyes met the deep blue ones. Shepard nodded slowly. "I promise I will protect you."

Liara gave her friend a big smile and stood up to leave. "I am happy that you are here with me."

Before she reached the door, she heard Shepard adding. "Just stay close to me on Omega, okay?"

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Shepard walked out of the docking area flanked by Wrex and Shiala. Omega was more crowded than she remembered, people talking with business partners, waiting for shuttles to get to other districts or just loitering around. Shepard put her inner alert level on high as she saw two humans chatting with each other; one of them glanced at them and the other seemed to be listening to an earpiece.

The two men had been waiting there ever since the Normandy docked. While they were waiting for the ship to go through the docking process, the stocky one asked his partner. "How do we know which one is Liara T'Soni?"

His partner ignored him and talked to his comm, "Yes, boss. We are at the docks and waiting for our mark." He gave his partner a dirty look. "You idiot! There is only one asari on the Normandy. Look for the one with tentacles on her head and blue skin."

When the three Normandy crew come out of the docks, the stocky one checked them out for a moment, then turned to his partner. "We are in luck. Tentacle-head is with Shepard. They are going to the shuttle port." His partner hissed at him, "Don't stare! You will alert them. Stay here and watch my back." With that, he took out his earpiece and walked towards his mark, looking drunk and he stumbled into Shiala in the back.

Shepard had been tracking these two with her peripheral vision. When the man bumped Shiala, Shepard quickly grabbed his forearm, twists it behind him and pushed him into a wall. "What do you want?" She smelled alcohol on his breath and checked his ears but found nothing.

"I'm sorry, I thought you were the big Alliance hero, and I just wanted a closer look. But I … I guess I had one too many." His acting was impeccable. Shepard turned her head and checked on Shiala. "You okay?" Shiala nodded. Shepard let go of the man's arm. "Next time, sober up first, then come up and say hi like a man."

"I … I will." The man hung his head and held his sore arm as staggered away. Shepard kept her eyes on him until he joined his friend, and then they both disappeared into a gate that linked to some apartments.

As soon as they cleared the entrance, the stocky man asked his partner. "You got it?" His partner nodded, "Yes, the trace in on the bitch. And the great Commander Shepard doesn't even know it."

True to Shiala's word, her half sister gave them very detailed directions to the warehouse. The warm reception from her sister surprised Shiala, but she suspected that Shepard's presence made the different between a cold bucket of water on her face and a warm helping hand. Shepard called the ground team to join them at a rendezvous point while letting Shiala catch up with her half sister. Shepard didn't want the Marine units; it would look too much like a military operation. But from the large size of this place she'd need everybody else to cover the two approaches to the warehouse.

According to Shiala's sister, the warehouse had a lower entrance that was accessible via a tunnel and a higher one via rooftops. Before they turned to the road leading to a large open area in front of the warehouse, Shepard instructed her team. "Avoid loud explosions if we can. We don't want Aria's men here to interfere."

Garrus had climbed up a tall power grid and read out the layout as he checked the perimeter using his sniper sight. "It's a good place to set up an ambush, but I'm not seeing a lot of movement." He turned his sniper rifle around. "Wait, I see proximity mines. Odd, there are mines and traps, but I don't see a lot of guards."

Shepard split the team into two groups to cover the two entrances. She took Liara and Garrus to the lower level while Wrex, Ashley and Shiala went to cover the upper level, while Tali and Kaidan each worked on the mines and traps around the two entrances.

When Tali finished disabling the mines and traps outside of the tunnel, Shepard signaled Garrus. The turian nodded and brought out his sniper rifle with a silencer mod. Two low sounds of bang, the guards on the left side drop while Shepard opened her rifle to take down the one on the right, and then together they took out the other two floating in Liara's singularity. Minutes later, the team stood next to the dead mercenaries. Garrus squatted down, "Curious. Their armor doesn't have any markings. It looks like someone is trying to hide something."

Shepard didn't like what she saw, "This was too easy."

Shepard gave her team a nod, and Tali opened the door while Garrus leveled his rifle and charged in first, his visor blinking bright orange in the dark tunnel. Tali scanned the area, "More proximity mines plus rigged explosives."

Shepard squatted next to Tali, "Can you and Chiktikka handle them?"

Tali tilted her head. "It's strange. These charges are trivial; it's usually designed to distract or alert more than killing and maiming enemies." She tapped on her omni-tool, frustrated. "All the walls and celling are rigged. It's going to take me forever to disable them all, there are just too many of them!"

Shepard shook her head. "We don't have that kind time, Tali! Can Chiktikka trigger them?"

"Triggering them is a faster way to get through, however, these mines and charges are designed for heavier pressure on the floor and larger masses than a combat drone. She can probably set them into an alert state with her subsonic waves, but she can't make them detonate."

"Do you think our armor shields can take the blasts from so many charges?" Shepard was formulating a plan.

"Hard to say. The mines in here are much smaller than the ones outside, but still with so many of them together, I'd say it's 50-50 chance."

Shepard thought for a minute and then she stood up. "Let's do it! I will go first and trigger everything. You guys follow me after all the charges detonate."

Liara grabbed her arm. "Commander, if I wrap myself in a biotic field, it will protect me in addition to the armor shield. I will go first."

"No!" Shepard replied immediately.

Tali brought out Chiktikka, "Commander, if I send Chiktikka in first, she will help Liara trigger the explosions faster and get out of the way faster, but she has to run really fast and keep up with Chiktikka."

Shepard looked down the long corridor, the sensor lights from each charge on the walls and the celling blinked back at her. She put a hand on Liara's shoulder, "You give it a try, but if it's too much, just stop. I will take over, okay?" Liara gave Shepard a nod, took a deep breath. Her body glowed blue energy and she nodded at Tali who immediately unleashed her combat drone, and the pair took off.

A symphony of explosions went off, sending sparks flying in every direction. Loud reverberations erupted and bounced off the celling, projecting back deafening sound waves that pounded on Shepard's ears even through her helmet.

A moment later, Shepard took off after Liara, Garrus and Tali following behind her, rushing to keep up. Shepard could feel the walls and celling pelting her armor with flying pieces from the slabs, dirt and dust blocking her view. She kept her dashing speed, focusing her vision on the bright explosion sparks in front of her. She couldn't see Liara's running form in all the lights and flying debris, but she could vaguely see that Liara's biotic field was holding.

Long passed burning lungs and numb ribs, Shepard finally saw the sparks dimming, but she couldn't stop her mad dash. She had to get to Liara.

The ground was covered with debris. On the far end wall by the large door leading to the building, two larger charges chained to the last line of proximity sensor were getting triggered before Chiktikka even reached the normal sensor range. Shepard heard the high-pitch whiny sound in a sudden silence after all the charges had exploded, all but the last two large ones that could rip a heavy armor right off and pummel a body into a pulp if one got caught in the full blast. She first shouted in her comm, "Garrus, Tali, get down, now!" But she continued to push her tired legs until she saw Liara hunching on the ground on all fours, panting. Without warning, Shepard leapt in the air boosted by the speed of her sprint, she grabbed Liara's mid-section and held her tightly with both arms, rolling them both into the corner of the adjacent walls. She pushed Liara against the corner and balled up her body behind the asari. Their helmets cram together while two thunderous explosions roared above their heads and shockwaves crushing their bodies. Shepard held her hands out against the reinforced walls to take the blunt of the shockwaves, her ribs felt like they were about to snap.

In a deafening silence, Garrus pushed himself up from under a layer of debris, shaking off the small pieces stuck on his armor. Tali coughed underneath him. Garrus immediately pulled Tali's arm, "Tali, are you hurt?"

Tali shook her head, muttered inside of her helmet, "Bosh'tet!"

They both stood up and dusted themselves and each other off. Garrus' ears stopped ringing, and as his head cleared he suddenly remembered his other teammates. He turned and stumbled quickly toward the door of the building, "Shepard! Liara!" Tali followed him and gathered the combat drone.

Garrus knelt down by the two crouching figures after removing the pile that covered them. Shepard moaned and pushed her hands slowly to take off her helmet. Garrus asked, "Shepard, where are you hurt?"

"Everywhere." Grabbing Garrus' arm, Shepard tried several times and finally stood up, and when she coughed her body coiled as her ribs once again sent stabbing pain. Garrus held her arm while she pushed dirt and dust out of lungs and sucked in more air.

In the corner of the walls, Liara stirred. Shepard quickly pushed her helmet into Garrus' hands and got down next to Liara. She helped the asari sit up and take off her helmet. "Liara, are you hurt?" The asari coughed and then she gave Shepard a thumbs-up and coughed some more. Shepard got up on shaky legs then pulled Liara up, and they hel on to each other's arms for stability.

"Liara T'Soni? You are one crazy asari!" Shepard said in between shaky breaths.

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On the other side of the building, Ashley took point to approach the roof access that led to the overhead catwalk in the warehouse. Wrex covered their rear with Shiala sandwiched in the middle. The narrow ledge on the roof was only wide enough for one person. One side of the narrow path was against the wall and the other a sheer drop off the building. Ashley signaled her teammates to follow her. She looked down at the ground level and warned those behind her. "Don't look down."

Wrex looked down. "You don't want to fall from here, or you'll crush Kaidan."

Kaidan was still sweeping for traps down below. Hearing Wrex's comment in her comm, he looked up. "Thanks for your concern, Wrex."

Ashley squatted down, her two teammates mimicked her movement. The human raised her hand to motion that she saw three guards. Wrex quietly took out his shotgun while Ashley leveled her rifle. Shiala's hands glowed blue energy. Ashley put up three fingers to count down to zero, then she rolled out from behind the wall and stabilized herself behind a crate on the other side, rifle ready to fire. Shiala followed Ashley leaving the cover, but she stood right in the middle of the opening toward the door. Just as three mercs peeked out from behind the crates near the building entrance, Shiala quickly unleashed her caged biotic energy before Ashley fired a shot and Wrex was still moving out from the cover. The biotic shockwave crushed the heavy metal crates and smashed the three human mercs again the wall. When the flying bodies came down along with the crates, nothing moved any more. Ashley walked over to the dead mercs, shocked at the sight of mangled bodies laying in disturbing angles and positions.

Shepard's hoarse voice came on the comm "Team two, report!"

Wrex reported simply, "Shiala's biotic shockwave killed all three mercs. We're at the door."

Ashley was still staring at the mess in front of her with her mouth open. "Holly shit, Shiala! Why wasn't I born an asari?"

"You deserting me, Chief?" Shepard's voice was more relaxed when she heard her other team had met little resistance.

"No way! Who would watch your six if I wasn't here?" Ashley helped Wrex move the bodies and crates to clear the door while Shiala stood behind them keeping a calm composure.

"My ass feels loved." Shepard replied over the radio. "What about you, Kaidan?"

"I would, except I can imagine the complications on the physical front of things."

Shepard was dusting a thick layer of grime off herself and then started patting Liara's armor to help get rid of hers. "What about you, Liara?"

"In case you have not noticed, Commander. I am an asari."

"She's got you there, Shepard." Garrus smiled, his orange visor looked muddied.

"I meant, do you ever wish you were a human?" Shepard put on her defiant voice.

"Some times, when I am frustrated." Liara replied with a matter of fact voice, wiping her crest with the back of her hands.

"Why's that?" Shepard cleaned Liara's helmet as much as she could with her grimy gloved hands, then handed it back to the asari.

"Then I would have something to pull on my head." Liara was quite proud of herself for making a joke that made everyone laugh, until Shepard came over and held Liara's head with both of her hands and whispered.

"Don't you change a thing. You are perfect!" Liara stood there for a moment, stunned.

On Shepard's signal, both teams stormed into the warehouse only to find the place completely deserted. Ashley reported from the catwalk to say they didn't see any movement. The team below weaved through dividers, crates and power generators on their way to the deepest end of the large warehouse.

At the farthest corner of the building, a human woman sat in a metal chair that was bolted to the floor, hands bound behind, feet to the chair and mouth gagged with a large rag.

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**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews and PMs. All comments, reviews, suggestions and PMs are welcome.


	16. Chapter 16 Gianna

**In Love and War**

**Chapter Sixteen - Gianna**

The enormous warehouse had been dark for most of the night. There were a few night-lights illuminating the dirty walls that smelled metallic and musty. Without any movement inside, the overhead lights that were controlled by motion sensors had turned off and stayed off. Gianna Parasini had been sitting in a very hard metal chair for the entire night. Her bum was numb but her mind was furious. 'Calm down, Gianna! Someone will come for you.' She tried to tell herself to relax, at least she hadn't been tortured or shot, she'd made enough enemies in her line of work. But she knew this wasn't about her. It was about the asari with Commander Shepard. She heard her kidnappers talking.

When Gianna received Anderson's message about not only changing the meeting location but moving it to another space station in another system altogether, she was a little pissed. _Doesn't Anderson know I'm working undercover?_ David Anderson had been her mentor ever since she was training to be a spy for the Alliance, and he even helped her get her current position catching white collar criminals. As soon as she saw the people meeting her on Omega, she knew it wasn't Anderson who sent her on this goose chase. She saw right through the two humans waiting for her outside of the warehouse. The stocky one was too stupid to had acquired any useful information, and the skinny one was too greedy to expose the criminals to Internal Affairs investigators, he'd soon sell it to the highest bidder. She could see it in his eyes; she had never missed catching greed in anyone, human or otherwise. It was a small comfort to know that she sent a message to Anderson's personal channel letting him know where she was going. Thank god for the procedure in her spy ops where you always let someone you trusted know where you would be.

She saw the tranquilizer needle coming, but there was nothing she could do about it. Two men had clutched her arms. They thought the sedatives had knocked her out but they were wrong. Gianna kept her eyes shut and her ears open. She did everything a seasoned spy was trained to do: she listened to everything they said when they tied her down to the metal chair, and to their chat when they had a smoke while waiting for their employer to call and check in. Looking at the restraints she was in, Gianna knew she couldn't get out on her own. Well, it was a waiting game now. Waiting for someone Anderson might send to rescue her. Might as well catch some shut-eye.

When Shepard and her team reached the human woman and freed her from the metal chair, Shepard found the woman surprisingly chipper. Gianna spit out the grimy remnants of the dirty rag a couple of times, then turned to Shepard. "Commander Shepard. Gianna Parasini, Systems Alliance Intelligence."

"You are a spy?" Shepard shook the woman's hand. "You are the one David wants me to meet?"

Gianna shifted her weight to get the feeling in her lower extremities back. "Thank you for coming to my rescue, I knew David would send someone." She gave Shepard and her team's dusty suits a thorough visual check, "Did you have to dig a tunnel to get in here?" Without giving Shepard a chance to answer, she continued. "Commander, I must get back undercover. I'll be missed if I don't make it back soon. But first, here is what Anderson wants me to give you." Gianna reached under her skirt and pulled out a small but very sharp knife from the holster on her inner thigh.

Shepard reflexively gripped her rifle tighter, but she relaxed when she saw Gianna unscrewing the top of the knife handle, opening it and taking out a small disc. Gianna dropped it in a slot on Tali's omni-tool, and fixed her knife and hid it again.

"Relax Commander. I sink people with my tongue not knives. This is only for cutting fruits on transport ships." She smiled for the first time at the Commander, but still didn't give Shepard a chance to talk. "I guess you've figured out by now that my abduction is a trap. But I have more details for you. They thought they sedated me, but agents at my level have implants against infiltration measures like sedation. I heard everything they said while they thought I was out cold." She looked at the Commander, then at the asari standing behind her. "They want her, the asari. I heard them talking about her. Unfortunately they didn't reveal their employer's identity. The goons have established a base on a rock not far from Omega, an old asteroid mining rock."

Shepard felt a knot forming behind her eyed and it's not from her eye injury. The knot got tighter when she became more aggitated. She glanced at Liara who frowned at the news Gianna shared. "Anything else you can tell us that might help figure out who's behind all this?"

"No idea. But it must've involved someone who could get to Anderson's office. You should start there." Gianna bent down but couldn't fish out the thing she was looking for in her boot. "Crap!" She took off her boot and shook out an earpiece and handed it to Shepard. "When the fat scumbag was too busy groping my boobs, I swiped this from his ear. You can probably listen in when you are within their comm range."

Shepard was impressed, a skilled agent could work her magic even when she was held hostage. "Do you know what they want from Dr. T'Soni?" She pointed at Liara.

"They want to keep her until you find Saren and complete your mission. I only heard them saying they wanted the asari away from the Normandy. Wait, your name is T'Soni? That's an interesting coincidence. The data Anderson wants me to bring is a list of corporations using the facilities on Noveria. I'm investigating a case there for Internal Affairs. The person who will be renting one of the largest research labs is also a T'Soni."

Shepard and Liara looked at each, and both moving closer to Gianna. "Benezia?" Liara's voice was a little shaky. Gianna nodded. Liara turned to look at Shepard.

Shepard put a reassuring hand on Liara's forearm, but she was still facing Gianna. "Do you know if the Matriarch will be there by herself or with Saren?"

Gianna thought for a minute this time, then answered. "Saren holds a lot of shares in a large company there, if he'll be there, the itinerary would have his name on it instead of someone else's. And in the past, when he was there for meetings or renting labs, the administrator always assigned a large security contingency from ERCS. Based on the schedules I gave you on that disc, it only shows the Matriarch to be on Noveria."

Shepard's hand on Liara's arm got tighter. They looked at each other again, Shepard saw hope and eagerness in Liara's eyes; Liara saw concern in Shepard's. "What is it, Shepard?" Liara asked.

"Something isn't right. If they plan on abducting you, why is there nobody here? Why isn't there a trap here if Gianna is the bait?"

Gianna quickly put her boot back on and dusted off her clothes. "Commander, that's all the info I can provide you. I really have to get back to my own mission before anyone suspects me. When you get to Noveria, I will make sure you get all the access codes and transportation. But get there on time. I'm making a bust on that Anoleis weasel as soon as I help you with your mission! If I have to stay on that frozen rock and wear that humiliating dress any longer than I have to, I'm going to shoot somebody! And I hate guns!"

Shepard asked Kaidan to drop Gianna off at a shuttle port discreetly as the spy wanted to make her own way back to Noveria. Shepard radioed the team above them on the catwalk to go back and meet at the rendezvous point. Shiala walked in the front with Ashley and Wrex following her on the ledge to climb back down. Out of nowhere, a shuttle swooped down and hovered not far from the trio. As the door opened, a human merc appeared with a sniper rifle. A small bang echoed in the open space, Shiala groaned lightly and snapped a tranquilizer needle out of her neck. "Shiala!" Ashley shouted, but it was too late. Shiala's face turned from shocked to relaxed as her body dropped over the ledge. The shuttle moved skillfully and caught the falling asari, then quickly sped away.

Ashley yelled Shiala's name and opened her rifle to fire on the shuttle. Wrex quickly docked his shotgun and took out his side pistol that looked amazing small in his large hand and fired once. As the shuttle disappeared from their view, Shepard's voice returned on the comm, "Ash, Wrex, what's happening? I heard gunshots." Before Ashley answered, Wrex started to walk toward the ladder. "Someone kidnapped Shiala. We have to hurry, Shepard."

Ashely turned to look at Wrex, "Hurry to go where? We don't know where they've gone."

Wrex started his descent, "Yes, we do."

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Shiala tried to open her eyes, but her eyelids felt heavy. 'Where am I?' She slowly remembered the rooftop, Ashley talking behind her, then a dart on her neck…no! No sedatives! No Sovereign, not again!

Panic set in, and Shiala took a few deep breaths and tried to settle her racing heart. She opened her eyes slowly and found herself alone in a large hall that was at least two stories high. The overhead lamps cast weak pale white light in the room. Weapons. She saw lots of weapons hanging on the walls and dividers, knives and mods on tables and benches. It had to be some sort of weapon factory. Shiala sat up in the small cot she was lying in, her hands still bound behind her and her feet tied up together, but not to the bed. She swung her legs to the ground and tried to stand up. "No, no, no. Stay put, bitch. Or you will regret it." A slimy sounding voice came on the loudspeaker. Shiala stopped.

The door swooshed open, a wave of hot air rushed in; it smelled of mechanical oil and eezo fuel. A skinny faced guy and a chunky one with a large belly walked in. Shiala recognized the skinny face as the one who bumped her at the shuttle port. He spoke first. "You do what we tell you and nobody gets hurt. Do you understand?" Shiala frowned and bit her lip, fighting back a whisper that was trying to sneak into her mind.

The stocky guy walked pass the skinny face. "Come on. Let's have some fun with her. She's too pretty to work on the factory floor with the slaves, maybe she can dance for us. We'll make this room our own Afterlife, and charge the other guys to watch her dance." He laughed and his large gut shook like jelly. "Hey, Dr. T'Soni! Would you like to dance for us?" He moved his large head closer to Shiala's face.

Looking at the creases on his fat neck where grime was soaked in sweat, Shiala almost let out a laugh. They thought she was Liara. She took satisfaction knowing her captors had abducted the wrong asari.

The skinny face observed the slight smile on the asari's face, he pushed the fat guy aside, and put his own grimy face in front of Shiala's. "What, you think you're too good to be a dancer?"

Another twinge pings at the back of Shiala's mind, another wave of panic. _'Kill the organics.'_ Sovereigns voice sipped through no matter how tight she shut her eyes. _'Kill them.'_

"Look at me when I'm talking to you!" The skinny face was angry now.

_'Purge the organics!' _Shiala opened her eyes.

"Do you think you are better than us?" The skinny face grasped Shiala's chin.

"You are insignificant!" Sovereign's words came in Shiala's voice.

"What the fuck? Are you insane?" The skinny face didn't believe what he was hearing.

"Insanity is to resist us when your fate has already been decided." Shiala shut her eyes tightly again, desperately searching for her own voice, her own thoughts.

The fat guy joined the skinny face, "I say we give her a good slap in the face and then see who's the fucking insane one." Shiala suddenly opened her eyes and gave the fat face an almost grateful look. Pain, that was the answer for Shiala. If she couldn't hold on to her own thoughts, she wanted the Thorian's voice in her head. It'd only hurt her body, but it'd leave her mind alone. She smiled slightly at the puffy eyes on the big man's face, and she aimed at his large nose and swung her forehead at it with as much force as she could muster.

Looking at his cohort sobbing on the floor while holding his bloody nose, the skinny faced man walked over to the asari who was now a little dazed from the head butt, but still with a small grin on her face. He backhanded her with his heavily reinforced gloved hand. The asari pitched back down on the small cot.

Face dripping with blood, Shiala slipped into unconsciousness.

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**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews and PMs. All comments, reviews, suggestions and PMs are welcome.


	17. Chapter 17 A Brute in the Dungeon

**A/N:** _tayg – thanks! :)_

**In Love and War**

**Chapter Seventeen – A Brute in the Dungeon**

Shepard gathered both of her teams at the rendezvous point. Ashley asked questions. "What do they want with Shiala? Are they Saren's men?"

"Unlikely." Shepard's mind was still on Gianna's words about Liara. _Could they have abducted the wrong asari? _"Saren took the Cipher from Shiala. I don't see any reason he'd spend time and credits to hire people to get her back. The question is how do we find where they took her."

Wrex brought up his omni-tool. "If we hurry we might catch up with them soon."

Shepard's eyes lit up. "You put a trace on them?" Wrex nodded.

Ashley looked at the krogan. "Wait, how did you know Shiala would get kidnapped and when did you load your pistol with a tracker?"

"Have you ever seen me using my pistol to shoot anybody?" Wrex asked back. While Ashley chewed on that one, Wrex turned to Shepard. "They shot her with a tranquilizer and scooped her in a shuttle"

Ashley gasped, "No! They used sedatives!" She explained to the team what sedatives did to Shiala. "We have to find her fast!"

"Yeah, and we can't save the Matriarch without Shiala's help." Garrus chimed in.

The old mining asteroid wasn't too far from Omega. Shepard's team landed not long before the Normandy arrived and circled the rock. The weapon factory was well hidden. Even the doors were built behind rocks that hid the entrance from the view. Shepard put on the earpiece Gianna swiped from one of the kidnappers and signaled her team to get ready.

Inside of the sprawling old mine on the second floor, Shiala slowly lifted her head from the grungy cot. She was glad to find her mind clear of everything but her own voice. The blood on her forehead and her face had dried, and she could feel it caked on top of her nose and above her upper lip. She looked up and inspected the room again. The skinny face had left but the chunky one was sitting in a chair by a table full of knives. Hearing the metal bed frame creaking, the man looked up. Shiala gave him a smile.

"What are you smiling at, blue bitch?" The fat man grumbled.

"In my world, head butting is a form of a very friendly hello." Shiala baited him.

"I thought that was a krogan thing." The man's voice was less irritated than before.

"We can do it if we choose. I chose to do it because I like you." Shiala sat up on the cot and faced the man directly. "Do you really like asari dancers?"

"Yes, I do. I like to look at them when they squat during a dance and sway their asses. Hehehe…" He wiped his nose with a dirty rag.

"I like dancing, especially when someone is watching me. All asari do." Shiala shifted her back and sat sideways now in bed, showing her slender body's profile. The man swallowed and stared at her behind. Shiala shifted her weight back and forth a couple of times. "If I wasn't bound, I'd give you an audition."

The stocky guy licked his lips. "You would?" He looked up at a dark corner on the ceiling, where Shiala assumed the cameras were watching, and he shook his head. "I can't. We aren't even supposed to be talking."

"You aren't supposed to torture me either, am I right?"

"No, we have to return you alive for a big bonus. If we harm you and you die, we lose a lot." The stocky man didn't realize what he'd been saying as his attention was completely absorbed elsewhere.

"Who is paying you? This must be a joke my friend is playing on me." Shiala gave him a small smile.

"Don't know. Diest is the one dealing with the boss. So are you going to dance for me?" He stood up, forgetting about the cameras.

"I would love to if you untie my legs and hands." Shiala kept smiling.

The fat man moved over, but before he untied the bonds he said, "Promise me you will do it slow." Shiala could see drool on the corner of his mouth. The ropes came off, and Shiala's fake smile turned into a snarly grin.

In a floating orb not far above the floor, the large man was struggling against the pressure on his body, his eyes wide in shock. Shiala raised one arm that maintained the biotic hold, her eyes thinning. "I promise I will do it very slowly."

A loud eruption shook the structure followed by echoes of gunfire and grenade explosions. Shepard's team had broken through the front barricade and was moving into the large structure. Panicked voices streamed into Shepard's ear through the earpiece. "What the hell is going on?" "We're being attacked!" "Get to the second floor and watch the asari!" Shepard signaled her team to climb the stairs.

When Shepard and her team reached the large room, the only guard left was in Shiala's grasp. The skinny faced man had just watched Shiala's biotic throw breaking every bone on his fat friend's body, and he was struggling against Shiala's grip on his throat.

"Who hired you?" Shiala's voice was steely. "Tell me, or I will do to you what I just did to your friend!"

"Okay, okay, take it easy." The skinny face choked. "I will tell you if you promise to let me live." Shiala's grip got tighter. "Okay, okay. I will tell…" He saw Shepard and her team moving closer, all guns trained on him. "The man, the man hired us to kidnap Dr. T'Soni works for the Terra Firma party, they want us to take her away from the Commander. That's all I know, I swear."

Shepard moved next to them, "Why?"

"I don't know. Honest." The man pleaded.

A deafening alarm went off before Shepard could ask more questions, and the ventilation blowers started to wind up to full speed.

"What's that?" Shepard asked the struggling man.

"It's nerve gas. We use it for crowd control, in case the slaves cause trouble down below. It gives you hallucinations and disables your muscles. We…we have to get out of here; the main reactor below has a big rupture because you blew the eezo fuel tank." His eyes darted at the door. "The guys at the control tower have initiated a self destruct procedure to destroy all evidence."

"How many people are down below?" Shepard asked.

"About forty slaves working in the factory. Please, let me go!" The skinny face pleaded again.

Shepard gave Shiala a nod. Shiala pulled the skinny guy's face toward her friends. "That's Dr. T'Soni! You kidnapped the wrong person." Watching the skinny face turning pale, Shiala smiled and dropped him on the floor. As soon as he landed, the skinny face activated his omni-tool. With a quick push of a large kinetic button, a trap was set loose in the room from dark corners: there were more than cameras hiding there. Shepard shouted, "Cover" and she dove on top of Shiala who was standing next to her. Over their heads, bullets and knives sprung from the trap, wheezing around them in the blazing alarm.

Shepard quickly got up after flying objects stopped and pulled Shiala with her. "Report!" She turned around and saw Liara had just lowered her biotic shield that covered Garrus and Ashley who happened to be standing next to her. Her eyes widened when she saw Tali's still sitting on the ground. "Tali, you hurt?" She rushed over to the quarian.

"A bullet grazed me and my suit is punctured." Shepard lathered medi-gel on Tali's shoulder and helped her stand up.

Wrex pulled out a knife that was stuck in his leg and marched over to the skinny face. "You will pay for that, worm!" He jammed the knife deep into the man's chest.

Shepard shouted over the alarm sound, "Wrex, Garrus, go take out the guys at the control tower and get back out as fast as you can before this place blows up!"

"You got it, Shepard." Garrus took off. Wrex got up and followed the turian but not before kicking the dead human with his large foot.

"Ashley, take Shiala back to the Normandy and stay with her." Shepard gave Ashley a look, and Ashley nodded her understanding.

"Liara, make sure Tali get back to the ship. She needs to be in the med bay immediately."

"Where are you going?" asked Liara.

"I'm going to get all the people down below before the reactor blows. Now go!" Shepard got on her comm and called Kaidan. "Alenko, where are you?"

"I've got a squad and the Makos by the door, waiting for orders, ma'am."

"Good! Take them and meet me at the lower level. We are evacuating civilians before the place blows up."

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Shepard met up with Kaidan at the base of stairs in the lower level. He was directing the Marines to grab any civilian they see and get them to the Makos. "Kaidan, make sure your people keep their helmets on to avoid inhaling the gas." As the smoke got thicker, the slaves who had no helmet protection started to cough and fall. Shepard grabbed a woman's arm who was coughing and trying to keep herself up by holding onto the edge of a table. Shepard shouted through her helmet. "Get up, we have to get you out of here!"

The woman got up on her feet but she didn't more. "Wait! Wait, my daughter! She's down a level below us, she was sick. They were keeping her in the storage room down there. You have to get her! Please!"

Shepard helped the woman over to Charlie, "Corporal, get everyone out of here now! The place is going to blow." Charlie was already holding a woman with his other arm, but he nodded to the Commander as he shifted the position of his other charge so that he could take them both.

Shepard told the woman, "I will go and get your daughter. You go with this Marine and get out of here, okay?"

"Be careful down there. The caretaker for the reactor doesn't like anyone being in there. Get my little girl back, please!" She coughed and let Charlie drag her away.

In the increasing density of smoke and steam, Shepard found a large hatch that opened to a set of drop-down stairs. She quickly docked her rifle and hurried down to the lower level. Without the overhead lamps, the corridors were dark. She could only see steam coming out of the pipes along the walls and smoke disbursing via the overhead ventilation. Once her eyes had adjusted to the darker environment, Shepard followed the narrow path and a short set of stairs that led to a large corridor that storage rooms opened to. Shepard leveled her rifle and got ready to check the rooms.

A heavy set of footsteps came from the deep end of the corridor. Before Shepard could see clearly through the thick haze, a man at least two feet taller than her appeared and ripped her gun right out of her hand and stabbed her arm with a knife. Shepard couldn't see the creature's face behind the thick enclosed mask, only two small round peek holes and a gridded breathing mask, his eyes glowing yellowish orange and his breathing heavy. The creature didn't have a gun, but his leather armor was lined with knife sheaths in the front and two large machetes crosses on his back.

Shepard ignored the pain in her arm and she pulled out her side pistol and jams on the trigger. Bullets hit the large man's right arm but they didn't seem to slow him down. He pulled the knife out of Shepard's arm and tried to hack it into her skull. Shepard aimed her gun at his other arm that was holding the knife and pulled the trigger until the gun overheated. The creature let out a deep vibrating growl and dropped his knife. Before Shepard could pull out her shotgun, the large brute took hold of her throat and tossed her like a sack of grain while ripping her armor along with her weapons off her. Large feet pounding the ground, the creature walked to the human on the floor by the wall, and bent down. He ripped her helmet off and held her off the ground by her neck.

Shepard's head was swimming, stars dancing in front of her eyes. Just when she finally got some air into her lungs, she felt a thick hand with stony fingers on her throat, lifting her off the ground. She knew she had only seconds to react. Without any weapon left on her body, she grabbed the creature's large collar to get him closer to her. When it was within her grasp, Shepard pulled out the machete tucked behind the man, and she kicked her heels off the wall and pushed her body high enough to plunge the large knife into the brute's neck. His hand let go of human's neck. The brute held the handle of the machete that was buried deep in his neck, trying to pry it out while stumbling backwards. Shepard didn't waste any time. She jumped up and took the other machete on the brute's back and pushed it through his chest.

Half waiting for the brute to stop struggling and half catching her breath, Shepard lied on top of the creature for a moment, then slowly pushed herself off the large dead body. In darkness, she couldn't find her gear. The knife wound on her arm was blooding profusely. She ripped the only piece of her under armor left around her neck and wrapped her wound as best as she could. Without her helmet, the gas effect was taking its toll. She pushed her legs to stand up - she had to get to the girl!

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Outside the factory, the Marines were helping the freed slaves get into the Makos and transporting them back to the Normandy. Liara looked around in the crowd, but she didn't see Shepard.

"Commander, come in! Shepard!" Liara called into her helmet comm. No response. She looked back at the exit of the factory, Charlie was helping the last two women out of the door, stumbling. She rushed to them and grabbed one of the women from Charlie's arm. "Charlie, did you see the Commander?"

"Yeah, she was right behind me. She said the place is going to blow."

"I'm going to get her. You tell Kaidan to leave a Mako here." Liara helped the slave into the Mako.

Charlie nodded and yelled at the driver to get moving. "Hey, Dr. T'Soni! Be careful, rocks are falling all over the place!"

"I will, Charlie. My biotic barrier will shield me." Liara closed the door on the Mako.

Through a layer of flickering energy shield, Liara was straining her eyes to search through the steam and smoke. Beyond a short set of stairs, she saw a large form lying on the ground, unmoving. She trained her pistol at the form, kicking it a couple of times, still no response. She moved closer, and seeing the large knife sticking out of his neck, Liara winced at the gruesome sight, but she kept moving. Down the corridor and turning the corner, a bigger room opened up and the steam and smoke were getting even thicker. Liara turns on the flashlight attached to her pistol and searched through the rooms along the corridor.

In the last room on the right, she found a figure kneeling in the middle of the room, in front of a wall of rubble. "Shepard!" Liara walked around the kneeling figure with her flashlight focused on the Commander until she could see the front.

Without her upper body armor, Shepard was sitting on her heels. The knife wound had left a trail of blood on her arm and dripped over to her leg, and blood was sipping through crudely wrapped bandage. Blood and grime cover her face and upper body, her white tank top was marred grey-black, and sweat was leaving streaks and puddles above her breasts. But what shocked Liara was what Shepard was holding in her lap: a young girl's body lying limply across Shepard's legs, her face ashen and her small body covered in dirt and small debris.

Liara gasped. Reflexively, she turned off the flashlight. She waited for a moment for the uprising wave in her stomach to settle before turning on the flashlight again. She lowered her hand and checked the girl for a pulse, though she's almost certain it would not be there. She raised her light to Shepard's face. The battered and bruised face was still and her eyes distant. Liara squatted down next to the human. She put her hand on Shepard's shoulder and shook it, "Shepard! We have to go!" No response. "This place is coming down. We have to leave, now!"

As if responding to her words, the ground shook again, rattling the crumbling walls and half caved in ceiling. Liara put up a barrier over their heads as more debris fell on top of them. The vibration seemed to have jolted Shepard out of her daze; as Liara grabbed her arm trying to drag her up, she pushed the hand away. "No! I can't just leave her! I have to help her!"

Liara lost her grip on Shepard's arm but she retook it. "You cannot help her anymore, Shepard! She is gone. And we have to get out of there!" Without further persuasion, Liara took the girl's body from Shepard's lap and pushed the human out of the room. She dove out through the door and debris fell behind them. Without her biotic barrier holding the weight, the entire room collapsed, and rocks and rubble spilled out the doorway.

Before Liara could pick herself up, Shepard rushed back and climbed on top of the pile of rubble and started digging out rocks with her bare hands. Liara jumped up behind her and grabbed her mid-section and started pulling her away. Shepard struggled to get free. "Let me go! I have to save her from the batarians!"

_The batarians? Oh, Goddess!_ When Liara realized that Shepard was having a flashback, she tightened her grip against Shepard's struggle. The human was using all the strength in her good arm to pry loose of Liara's hold, but her muscles weren't adhering to her wishes. Shepard lost her balance and fell on the floor. Liara quickly picked up her arm and dragged her back up. The asari took off her helmet, held the human's face in her hands so that she could hold Shepard's wild yet glassy stare. "Shepard, it's me. Liara." The green eyes became focused. "Come back to me!"

_Come back to me!_ Liara's voice became clearer and louder in Shepard's head, like a siren song. She looked into the asari's eyes. Even in the darkness, Liara's eyes flickered with a familiar sparkle that cleared the fog in Shepard's mind. "Liara."

"The nerve gas must have triggered a flashback, Shepard. But I am here and I've got you." As if all the steam in her body had been let out, Shepard's head fell on Liara's shoulder. Liara held the human for a moment and then she put her helmet back on. "Come on, we have to go."

Shepard nodded weakly and let Liara put an arm around her waist. "Thanks for coming back for me."

"Always."

Together they stumbled in the hazy tunnels and climb up the drop-down ladder; and when Shepard looked back over her shoulder as they reached the exit, stones and pebbles had filled in all the empty space, reclaiming the solid rocky asteroid as it once was.

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**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews and PMs. All comments, reviews, suggestions and PMs are welcome.


	18. Chapter 18 Twin Stars

**In Love and War**

**Chapter Eighteen – Twin Stars**

Shepard walked in the med bay with a hand behind her back and her injured arm in a sling. Tali shut down her combat drone quickly and sat up straighter on her bio bed. "Hi, Shepard. Don't tell Dr. Chakwas that I played with Chiktikka, okay? She banned her since last night when Chiktikka drained power from her scanning equipment. It was my fault. I was modifying her overload settings. I wasn't all there last night, I guess. My head is much clearer now."

Shepard shook her head. "As long as you leave her equipment alone. You don't want her to put you back to the bio dome again, do you bubble girl?" She brought her hand to the front and pushed a box into Tali's hands. "Here's a get-well present from the crew."

Tali's eyes blinked quickly, "For me?" She quickly opened the box and beamed at the human. "It's a new suit filter! This is the most advanced model I've ever owned! Where did you get it?"

Shepard smiled widely looking at the quarian inspecting the filter like it was a precious artifact. "Garrus and I got it together the last time we were on the Citadel. We were going to give it to you for your birthday. Well, I think your recovery warrants a celebration just as big. Don't you agree?"

"Shepard, nobody has ever bought me a such expensive filter before, except when I was five, my father gave me the best filter for my suit he could get his hands on, and I saved it for a long time before I used it. How did you and Garrus know I needed a new filter? I can't believe you found this model! Not many shops on the Citadel carry supplies for the quarians. You're so busy; you didn't have to do this. Wait, if you're giving this to me now, what are you going to do for my birthday?"

Shepard bit her lips trying not to laugh out loud when the quarian continued her monologue. "Well, Wrex's got something for you for your birthday. You'll see."

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"We've picked up another mission from the Fifth Fleet after we dropped off the freed slaves with the Alliance, but first I want everyone's report on what we've learned from the data we gathered." Shepard started the team debriefing in the comm room.

Liara spoke first. "Tali and I have been looking at the data we received before going to Omega, Lonar's reports show where Saren's corporate meetings will be tentatively, but no confirmed dates. Aleena's data shows Saren had been acquiring hundreds of thousands of bio tanks and shipped them to Virmire."

Garrus looked up at Shepard. "I can confirm with Lonar when we know which dates we want to check specifically, but from looking at Saren's schedule and the Matriarch's, it seems they will be at different locations."

"Or at least during the time the Matriarch will be on Noveria." Shepard agreed. She looked at Ashley, "How's Shiala? Will she be ready when we get to Noveria?"

Ashley answered, "She will be. I will help her get ready, Skipper."

Shepard nodded her approval. "We'll hit Noveria when the Matriarch is scheduled to be there. Alenko, I want you to put together a mission plan for this next mission. Liara and Garrus, keep working on the data and see what else you can find that will help us on Noveria and Virmire. Wrex, organize more drills with the Marines. I have a feeling we're going to need everyone on their toes. Ashley, work with Shiala as much as you can to get her ready. Dismissed."

As everyone filing out of the comm room, Kaidan dropped back a pace to meet up with the Commander who was walking out last.

"I wondered if I could speak freely, Commander." Seeing Shepard's nod, Kaidan looked down for a second as though he was carefully considering the words. "I feel it's my duty to ask you this, but should we chase after the Matriarch while we might get on the right track with chasing down Saren? I know you want to help Liara, so do I. But we do have our mission objectives to adhere. I hope you don't think I'm out of line."

Shepard stopped just outside of the comm room and faced Kaidan with her full attention. "Kaidan, to be honest with you, I've asked myself the same question over and over. From a tactical standpoint, it makes more sense to go after the Matriarch first. Nobody on the Council believes Saren is mustering an army and a fleet of geth ships, and most of all, nobody believes the threat Sovereign poses. They send one frigate after this powerful alien ship that's more advanced than anything we've seen and it can control people's minds? If we can get the Matriarch on our side, not only will she help us track down Saren, but she can also use her influence on not only the asari but every other species within the Council races and help them realize what it takes to get this job done." Shepard stopped to catch her breath.

Kaidan nodded his agreement and his frowning was now deeper than when he started the conversation with Shepard. The Commander's words deepened his own concerns for the mission that seemed more and more impossible to complete. He wished that he had connected with his parents when they were docked at the Citadel, that he had chatted with his Dad. _Dad would know what advice to give to me_...but he was too busy getting ship upgrades, and then there was Pierce. He wanted to spend time with Pierce.

With Kaidan silently lost in his own thoughts, Shepard continued. "On a personal level, I feel I can't fail again." She stopped, gathering her own scattered thoughts of what happened on the mining rock near Omega. She finally looked up at the Lieutenant. "There was a girl I found on Elysium, her family was slaughtered. Can you imagine losing everyone in a blink of an eye, your parents, your older sister and your baby brother...gone? Just like that. She hardly said anything to me, but she was so brave. I was out of it for two days in the field hospital after two surgeries, and she never left my side. One of the nurses asked her if she'd like to play with other children outside, and she told the nurse she couldn't leave me because she'd left her family when the batarians attacked, and they died while she hid; she couldn't let that happen to me. She didn't leave me alone the entire time." Shepard clenched her jaw and fought the tightness in her throat. "I often think about her, and wonder what would've happened if we had gotten there just half an hour earlier. That girl might still have her family and she would never be afraid to leave those who she cared about. I made myself a promise that I wouldn't let it happen again if I could help it." Shepard looked at Kaidan whose frown was gone. He was looking into Shepard's eyes, his gaze soft. "If there is a chance we can save Liara's family, shouldn't we at least try?"

"You can count on me, Shepard!" Now Kaidan must go talk to his parents.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Shepard startled awake in the middle of the night. More nightmares. She sighed and sat up in bed. Hands rubbing her forehead, she tried to suppress the headaches that were now pulsing behind her eyes. She got out of bed, and put on her clothes and put her arm in the sling. "I need some coffee."

In the soft orange lighting, the mess hall felt like a transport ship with hibernating passengers. Shepard sipped her coffee alone in the dim space and read a datapad. The med bay door swooshed open, and Liara walked over to the kitchen and made herself a cup of tea. She looked around the empty mess hall, surprised to see Shepard sitting in the corner near the elevator. Liara took her tea and walked over to the table. "Hey."

Shepard looked up, and smiled tiredly. "Hey. What are you doing up so late?"

Liara sat down across the table. "I am still going over the data we gathered. You?"

"Going over mission plans." Shepard looked at Liara's hand that was stirring the tea with a small spoon, she sighed. "Nightmares?"

Liara looked up almost sheepishly, and nodded. "You?"

"The same." Shepard sighed. "I'd ask you to tell me what your nightmares were about, but then I'd have to share mine." She stared at her coffee cup. "Trust me, you don't want to know."

Silence.

"It used to be about Benezia. Now it is different, since the mining rock near Omega. It has been…" Liara's voice trailed off as she glanced at Shepard's arm in the sling.

"What? You were worried about me? That's silly! Don't you know? I'm invincible! That was nothing! One time..." Shepard was ready with her usual speech she gave to her mother when Hannah worried about her. But she stopped herself as Liara's eyes widened. "Besides, someone will take over if I bite the big one. No big deal." Wrong thing to say again! Watching the horror forming in Liara's eyes, Shepard stretched her good arm and put her hand on Liara's, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I guess I'm a little shaken up too about what happened in the mines." Her hand fell off Liara's, "I wish I had gotten there earlier." She stared down at her hand. "I'd rather take a bullet than tell a mother her daughter didn't make it."

Liara captured Shepard's hand with both of hers. Shepard took her injured arm out of the sling so she could put her other hand into Liara's. They felt comforting and reassuring. "I…I should have handled the situation better. If it weren't for you coming for me…" She raised her head and looked Liara in the eye. "Other people have to be able to count me and trust me to get them out of trouble. I should have been stronger and smarter."

"I trust you." Liara squeezed Shepard's hands. "It was hard for me to trust anyone growing up, being Benezia's daughter. I do not have a lot of friends." Liara confessed into her teacup.

"And here I thought people were probably throwing themselves at you." No more jokes! Shepard yelled at herself. "I trust you too, Liara." She added.

A faint smile appeared on Liara's face. "When did you know you could trust me?"

"When you said 'Shepard, trust me!'" Shepard wasn't joking, but Liara laughed this time and shook her head. "What? You don't believe me? How could I not trust you? You're kind, you're noble and you're brave, on top of that, you're smart, accomplished and beautiful…should I continue?"

Liara laughed with a blush on her face. "That will not be necessary. Not to mention half of them are not true."

Shepard's heart skipped a beat when she heard Liara's melodic laugh, she stared at the asari's face and spoke in earnest. "I hope one day you'll see yourself the way I see you, Liara." This time it was Shepard's turn to blush as she heard herself saying these words. She quickly changed the subject. "When did you start to trust me?"

Liara thought for a moment, "That is a good question," then she brought up her omni-tool and started to scroll down on a list.

Shepard's surprise was beyond words. "Is- is that a list?"

Liara nodded, still scrolling. "I am a scientist, Shepard. I often rely on data to help me make decisions."

Shepard swallowed. "That looks like a very long list. Are they all about me? Are they all good things?"

"Yes, and yes." Liara chuckled at the nervous human. "As you said, it is a rather long list. Where do I start? Maybe I will tell you about number 15." She cleared her throat and waited for Shepard to acknowledge, but the human was still too stunned to speak. Liara chuckled again. "When we were on the Citadel last time, you helped an Alliance soldier to get into a clinic, do you remember that?"

Shepard nodded, "Lieutenant Zabaleta? Yeah, my mom asked me to help him. What's so special about that? He's a fellow soldier, of course I was going to help him."

"It is not just that you helped him, but the way you helped him. You held him when he had a flashback and you held his hands while waiting at the Alliance clinic, and you saw his doctor with him. In fact, you never left him for a moment before he was ready to be helped by others. I…I have never had a friend like that." Liara's voice held thick admiration with a hint of sadness.

Shepard stood up and moved to sit next to Liara. She put an arm around Liara, "Liara, you have a friend like that now, okay?" She waited for Liara to nod and then she reached for Liara's arm. "What else do you have on your list?"

Liara raised her arm, away from the human's grasp. "Shepard, are you trying to cheat and look at my list without permission?" She was trying hard to hide a smile.

"Doesn't matter. I will just sneak into your quarters when you are sleeping."

"I would like to see you try."

"Is that a challenge?" Shepard ignored the grin on Liara's face while keeping a serious expression. And suddenly with lightening speed, she jumped up to grab Liara's arm. But the asari was ready for her as she leapt out of chair and ran over to the other side of the table. Empty-handed, Shepard ran after her mark and lunged at the asari's legs and tackled Liara to the ground. With Liara's legs firmly pinned underneath her, Shepard moved up and put her weight on the asari's body and reached for the arm that had the omni-tool. Liara struggled through laughter to extend it as far from the human as she could while pushing Shepard's arm that was holding her down. Neither remembered Shepard's knife would that was still healing, Shepard groaned in pain as Liara's hand dug into her arm and she fell on top of the asari.

"Shepard, I am really sorry." Liara's laughter was gone, replaced with a concerned voice.

Shepard slowly lifted her head from Liara's chest, surprising the asari with a big grin. With their faces so close, Shepard could feel Liara's heartbeat through her own chest as she watched Liara's lips part. Shepard's breath caught and her face was burning. The human lifted herself with her good arm off the asari and she sat on the floor against the bulkhead behind the table. She swallowed and tried to calm her racing heart.

Liara sat up and joined Shepard by the bulkhead. Neither said anything for a while. Liara started, "I have another one for you, if you want to hear it." Shepard gave her a shy smile. Liara didn't need to bring up her omni-tool. "Do you remember when we finished the battles against the geth on Rayingri in the Armstrong Nebula? You were looking at its companion star and said 'I didn't expect to see dying souls to be so beautiful.' Your face looked…sad and serene at the same time. It- it moved me. What did you mean by what you said?"

Shepard looked at Liara for a moment, remembering seeing the twin stars basking in the shared warmth of close-by sun. "A long time ago on Earth, some people believed when good people died their souls went to heaven, and they looked down from the stars and protected us. When I was a kid, my Grandmother told me these stories. And once in a while I'd look at distant stars thinking about my Grandmother, my Dad and my friends that have passed." Shepard moved closer to Liara on the floor so that their shoulders touched. "The two planets have been together for so long and they will die together, like two souls bound forever. It's sad that they'll die yet it's also incredibly beautiful that they're marching to their deaths together."

Liara watched Shepard recounting her thoughts, mesmerized by the human's face – it looked as beautiful as the day they were on Rayingri. When Shepard stopped talking and turned to look at her, Liara couldn't stop herself anymore. No more hesitation, the asari cupped the human's face and captured her full lips with a sense of urgency. She had imagined this moment many times, the taste and texture, but she was most definitely wrong. The sensation was unimaginable. It wasn't like anything physically she could equate it to, nothing could describe the burning fire deep inside of her and the strange yet alluring tingling between the folds behind her neck.

Liara's move caught Shepard completely by surprise. Shepard hadn't imagined this; she hadn't imagined it because Liara represented perfection, unobtainable. Her racing heart that had just returned to its normal rhythm was now beating even faster than before. It was an urgent moment at first, as if Liara had been waiting for this impatiently and finally gotten the chance; Shepard could do nothing but respond. As the asari started to explore more with her teasing tongue, Shepard straightened her back to push herself even closer. Feeling the heat radiating from Liara's body, Shepard's own body heat surged. Liara got on her knees to face the human directly, Shepard mirrored the move without letting go of the asari's lips. When their lips finally parted ways, Shepard sat back on her heels, panting and smiling. Holding Liara's hand, she sat back down against the bulkhead. Liara followed her and leaned her head on Shepard's shoulder, also smiling.

"Now I'd REALY like to hear more of your list." Shepard said.

They both chuckled for a moment, and Liara laced hers fingers through Shepard's. "I think I would like to hear more about your father and your Grandmother."

Deep into the night, Shepard was still talking about her Dad and her Grandmother. When she looked down, a smile spread across her face. Liara had curled up on the floor, her head lying across Shepard's lap - the asari had fallen asleep. Shepard carefully took off her sweatshirt, and covered Liara's sleeping form, as she whispered into her ear, "Sweet dreams."

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**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews and PMs. All comments, reviews, suggestions and PMs are welcome.


	19. Chapter 19 Battle Above Noveria

**In Love and War**

**Chapter Nineteen – Battle Above Noveria**

It had taken four vehicles to get everybody to Peak 15. Shepard was waiting patiently for her troops to get there and directing them to positions in the building. Her ground team and the Marine troops were making their treacherous journey on the icy and snowy road while fighting off the geth Troopers, Colossus units and sentry towers, and it had taken quite a long time. But Shepard didn't feel like hurrying. She was not ready to face Matriarch Benezia; not because they had to hurry to get here after receiving a message from Gianna saying the Matriarch had changed her schedule and had gotten here a week ago. She was dreading it for Liara's sake. For the past week, Liara had stayed glued to her, and the asari's affection had deeply touched Shepard, something she'd never experienced before. Though she relished the endearing glances and tender moments they had shared, in the back of Shepard's mind, the shadow of the impending chaos was growing larger and larger as they got closer and closer to Noveria. Now that they were finally here, Shepard was dragging her feet.

Shepard laid out the best plan based on the intel of Peak 15. Gianna had given her everything she needed to access the buildings and even fended off the ERCS local security officers to get her the clearance. The sprawling compound had many entrances. Shepard had Wrex and Ashley covering the north entrance while keeping Shiala safe and out of sight until Shepard gave the order to bring her in. Kaidan and a squad of Marines were securing the tram and not letting anyone in or out, and Tali was taking another squad to work on the power restoration and lab controls. Shepard took Garrus and Liara to face the Matriarch and hopefully bring her in peacefully.

When everything was set, Shepard gave the signal and all parties started moving to their objectives. When Shepard arrived at the hot labs, she was surprised to find only the Matriarch standing in the middle of the room. _This looks off_, before Shepard finished her thought, Liara called out, "Mother!" The Matriarch turned from a large see-through container and faced them. "Liara!"

Liara started to run to her mother, but Shepard grabbed her arm and stopped her. "Wait. Not before we know it's safe." Liara backed up. The Matriarch's face darkened. "Have you faced asari commandos before? Few humans have."

"Yes, I'm actually one of the few." Shepard didn't back down, she leveled her rifle. "I don't want to fight. I'm here to talk."

"That's why you brought soldiers with you, because you don't want to fight." Benezia glared at Shepard, her voice devoid of emotion.

"We're here to ensure Liara's safety. She's here to talk to you. You can come with us or…" Before Shepard finished her sentence, asari commandos and geth Troopers streamed in from all three entrances. _Where the hell are my teams?_ Just as Shepard was about to raise them on her comm, gunfire rang out. Her teams had made contact. Shepard quickly disposed of two asari commandos who were charging at her, as she instructed Liara, "North entrance!" Liara quickly let out a singularity blast, and lifted two geth machines into the air. Shepard and Garrus opened fire and ripped the machines into pieces. As they took out a few more waves, Wrex and Ashley made to the north entrance, and Kaidan with his Marines blocked the east side. Shepard nodded at Garrus, the turian went to the entrance they had came through and watched for any sign of reinforcements.

Shepard turned to the Matriarch once again, still with her rifle leveled and aiming at Benezia. "Matriarch, we need to talk and it doesn't look like you have many options left. Stand down!"

The Matriarch readied her biotics, "You think so, Commander." She sent out a blast, not toward Shepard but at Liara.

Liara had been standing a few steps away from Shepard, staring at Benezia in disbelief.

_That is not my mother!_ That greyish skin with indistinctive markings didn't belong to her mother. That cold and somber stare didn't belong to her mother. Benezia's eyes always had fire; some times it was warm and caressing, other times blazing even scorching, but never without the glow of the flame that lit Liara's life since the first time she looked into her mother's eyes.

And that dress and head scarf! Benezia always refused to wear that outfit even when she visited the temple or when other formal occasions that warranted it – she hated that dress. "We may be old, but do we have to dress like we're going to walk into our graves tomorrow?" She always wore colorful dresses with a hint of yellow, some times with a scarf, some times with a sash. Benezia once told Liara, "If they want to bury me in that dress when I die, I want you to hit them with biotics so hard that they'd look no longer blue." But this woman who was standing on top of the platform, she was not her mother!

As Liara lost in her thoughts, Benezia's hands glowed with energy. Before Liara realized the energy was charging toward her, Shepard quickly dove and pushed Liara out of the path of the blast. It hit the human so hard that Liara could only watch the Commander's body flying over her head and hitting the wall at the far end of the room. "Shepard!" Liara screamed, she quickly threw a stasis field around her mother, and ran to Shepard.

The Commander was trying to get up, but she was struggling. "I'm alright," she let out a groan, "I'm alright." She stood up with Liara's help. Ignoring the pain in her shoulder and her hip that had hit the wall, Shepard ran back toward the Matriarch who was still trapped in Liara's stasis field. She tossed a stun grenade near Benezia and signaled everyone to get down.

In a sudden silence after the grenade explosion, Shepard approached the Matriarch lying unconsciously on the platform. Liara rushed to her mother, and Shepard didn't stop her this time. Liara got down on the platform and gathered her mother in her arms. "Oh, mother. I am so sorry. I wish I had come home earlier. I wish I had not been so stubborn. I wish I had stopped you…" Her tears started falling.

"I'm sorry too, Liara." The Matriarch looked at her daughter. The hard gaze had disappeared; the Matriarch's eyes were filled with warmth. She held Liara's face with one hand, "I have missed you so." Tears forming, the Matriarch struggled. "We don't have much time. Saren's voice still echoes in my mind."

Shepard quickly got on her comm. "Shiala, go!"

Wrex and Ashley marched in side by side, holding their weapons. As they reached the platform, each moved aside, Shiala stepped forward. Teacher and student's eyes met, silent yet so much had been conveyed. Shiala still had the Matriarch's mind and she was here to restore it. Benezia spoke first, "Shiala, make haste. Saren's voice is crawling behind my ears."

Rushing to her mentor, Shiala held Benezia's arms. "We'll fight him together, Matriarch! Embrace eternity." Linking arms and synchronized in breathing, the two asari entered their battle together in the unseen realm.

It seemed to have taken forever for the meld to complete. As the team watched on, Shiala's eyes turned from black to greenish blue, and with a small whimper, she dropped down on the floor, lost consciousness. Shepard nodded to her team, and Wrex picked up the asari and left the room with Ashley following closely behind. The Matriarch also dropped down on her knees, but she was quiet with her eyes closed, as if she was meditating. She finally opened her eyes and stood up with noticeable effort.

"My mind is my own again! Thank you for bringing Shiala, Commander. I had hoped she'd be saved but I didn't expect you would trust her to free me. For that, I thank you." She looked at Liara and extended her arms. Liara fell into her mother's embrace. "I had good intentions. But Sovereign is too powerful." The Matriarch's voice was soft.

"Come with us, mother. Come to the Normandy, we will find a way to defeat Saren and Sovereign. Shepard will succeed." Liara pleaded desperately.

"It isn't over, my child." The Matriarch took Liara's hands. "My work isn't yet done." She looked at Shepard and back at her daughter, "Do you trust the human?"

Liara nodded, "She has my unwavering loyalty and I will fight along her side until we defeat Saren and Sovereign."

"Good! You have done well, my child. It's a shame that it took Saren's reckless actions to bring you to this path, but I'm glad to see you have broken through your shell." Liara could almost see a slight smile on her mother's face as the Matriarch continued her instructions. "Help Shepard and trust her to help you when you need council and guidance. She is extraordinary, and with her help you will become extraordinary too. Now go." The Matriarch gave Liara a tight squeeze on her hands and turned back.

"No, mother. Please come with us. Shepard says everything will work out, if you just come with us. And I believe her." Liara pleaded again, and her tears started to fall. She had only just found her mother; she couldn't possibly leave her here! She looked back at Shepard, and the human joined her.

"Matriarch, whatever plans you have, we can discuss them on the Normandy. We'll get the fleet together and we'll have a plan once we know Saren's next location. Please just come with us."

"Shepard, I can help you with the next location on Saren's journey. But first, I want you to get my daughter safely back on the Normandy." The Matriarch stood her ground, still with her back toward them.

Shepard nodded at Garrus, the turian came over and took Liara's arm, "Come on, Liara. Let's get back to the ship." Liara struggled to get free from Garrus' grip, "No, I am not going anywhere unless the Matriarch comes with us."

Joker's voice came on the comm, "Commander, our scan detected several geth ships approaching."

"They're scheduled to come and pick me up." The Matriarch turned, "We'll have to get ready."

"No, you are coming with us now!" Just for a moment, Liara wished she had Sovereign's ability to control her mother's mind. Garrus didn't let go of her arm. Shepard walked over to Liara, "Liara, we need to get ready to either face the geth ships or run. We don't have much time. I need you to go back, we'll come up with a plan. We will."

Liara was desperately trying to get free from the turian's grasp, but Shepard nodded her head at Kaidan who had been standing by the other entrance. "Go back to the ship and get ready with all battle stations." Kaidan and his Marines marched through the room. The Lieutenant grabbed Liara's other arm and dragged her out of the room with Garrus.

When the room was finally quiet with only the elder asari and the young human remaining, the Matriarch leaned on the railing; with great effort, she asked the human, "Shepard, I can see you care for my daughter."

"Deeply." Shepard said without hesitation.

"Do you wish to protect her under any circumstances?" The Matriarch wanted to be certain what she was about to ask of the Commander.

"With every ounce of my being. I would give my own life to protect her." Shepard again responded quickly. They didn't have much time.

"Would you be willing to swear it?" The Matriarch pressed again.

"On my honor as an Alliance Officer, a Council Spectre and as a human being."

"Very well." The Matriarch unfolded a piece of fabric that was the size of a small scarf from her sleeve and presented it to Shepard, "When Liara's sorrow from her loss lightens and she is fully under your protection, please give her this. This is from a shroud uncovered in a very ancient temple of our goddess. It holds immeasurable value to me as it's the only thing I have left from Liara's father."

Joker's voice sounded in her ear again. "Commander, the geth ships are approaching, they'll be within range in less than 30 minutes."

Shepard responded, "Copy that." She didn't want to accept the scarf that the Matriarch was holding out for her. She looked into Benezia's eyes, hesitating.

The Matriarch tilted her head slightly, "Shepard, you impress me. Do you show such compassion to all your enemies?"

"No, I don't!" Shepard finally docked her rifle. "I haven't forgiven you for what Saren did on Eden Prime, what he did to Shiala and what he plans to do to the galaxy while you stand right by his side. I haven't forgiven you for putting your own people at risk – the asari Matriarchy is in disarray because of you. But most of all, I haven't forgiven you for what your actions have done to your daughter. I'm doing this for Liara."

The Matriarch's shoulders slumped forward a little, no longer standing in her proud Matriarch stance. "Yet, you gave me back my own mind. Does it please you to know that I can face the consequences of my actions with a clear conscience?" Her voice didn't have any menace, only regret.

"No, you deserve to have your mind back and make your own decisions. Nobody deserves to have their memories forcefully taken." The asari Consort's words echoed in Shepard's mind. _Can Benezia truly come home and face her friends? _Shepard wondered.

The Matriarch saw the look in Shepard's eyes, she understood. "I shouldn't have done that to my old friend, but I was trying desperately to protect Liara. I didn't want Saren to get his hands on her and I thought if I can get the Prothean data from someone else, it'd spare Liara." Her face softened.

"I know you love your daughter. I see the incredible strength and sense of honor you instilled in her, and for that I believe you are redeemable. I want to save you for her. We can do this without sacrificing your life. Help us find a way." She tried to sound confident and convincing.

"Perhaps, you have been very resourceful so far. Shepard, you must unite everyone in the galaxy. Sovereign will not be the last vanguard Reapers send, your battles ahead will not result in victory if you stand alone." The Matriarch looked tired. "I've spent my entire life trying to unite everyone in the galaxy for a better future, for all of us, this is not the ending I had envisioned."

"Then come with us, it doesn't have to end like this."

"You might be accepting, Shepard. But others will not be. I do not wish to sit in isolation while Saren and Sovereign gather more strength. I will choose my own path, and regain a small amount of honor I once had. I am doing this for Liara, Shepard, I hope you can see that." As the Matriarch watched Shepard's expression change, she knew the Commander had come to an understanding of her decision. "I'm giving you the location of the Mu Relay and after that you will have to figure out which planet Saren is headed as I have no possession of that knowledge. The geth ships are here to escort me back to Saren and we can use the element of surprise. Here are the strategies that might work with just our two ships, however we have to disable the geth units on our ship. That only leaves a few of my acolytes to operate it and perform the battle sequence." The Matriarch uploaded everything to Shepard's omni-tool from her own. And then she looked up at the human with a determined look that Shepard had seen many times from Liara. "Goodbye, Shepard. And farewell." Benezia turned her back to the human, letting her know the conversation is over.

Shepard was running every scenario in her head. She knew the Matriarch was right, they needed both of their ships to deal with 3 geth battleships, but she couldn't just leave without taking the Matriarch back to Liara. _Think, Shepard, think! You can't go back to Liara like this._ Joker's voice came in her ear again, "Commander, we've got to move." Shepard uploaded the battle simulation to Joker and asked him to run a few time while waiting for her.

"Damn it!" Shepard shouted in frustration, putting the scarf in her armor pocket and looking at the Matriarch's back one more time. She turned and ran to join the Normandy, while still trying to think what other options were available. "Tali, do geth ships have escape pods?"

"No, Commander. Geth ships are not equipped with escape pods. In case of an emergency, they simply drop the geth units to the surface of a planet or into space until they are collected by another geth ship. However, they do have fighters that can leave the ship."

Shepard saw a flicker of hope. She ran through the air lock, her crew had been waiting for her there. "Garrus, get the forward batteries ready. You'll get to fire all of the ordnance we have."

Garrus shouted "on it, Shepard." His voice excited as he ran to the battery control room.

"Tali, I need you to work with Adams to keep stealth system running as cool as possible, we're going to need to stay hidden for longer than our specs. One more minute undetected is one more chance we'll all get out of this alive. You get what I'm saying?"

Tali moved her feet toward the elevator, "Crystal clear, Shepard."

"Kaidan, I need all hands on ship's controls. You work with Joker, we'll need to run battle sequences as planned but get ready to hightail out of here when we get what we came for. You understand?" Kaidan gave the Commander a big nod and headed to the co-pilot seat.

"Wrex, we'll need both starboard and portside cannons. I need you to get all the Marines we have to help man the battle stations and reload ordnance. You've run enough drills with them. You think you've whipped them into the fastest Marines in Alliance history? Because that's what I need right now."

"Shepard, I will whip these whelps into real warriors. Don't you worry!" Wrex joined Tali in the elevator.

Shepard entered the Comm room with Ashley and Liara still behind her. "Ashley, bring up all the observation cams around the ship. I want them all on the screen." She pointed at the large screen in front of them. Ashley immediately went to work. Shepard tapped on a couple of consoles opposite the ones Ashley was working on and brought up several holo projections. One of them showed three geth ships approaching, and another showed the geth ship that carried the Matriarch. Shepard tapped on her omni-tool and called out, "Matriarch, please come in." A moment later, Matriarch Benezia's image appeared on the holo projector.

"Normandy, are you ready?" The Matriarch was sitting in a control room on the geth ship.

"We are ready to commence battle sequence alpha-omega 3 in two minutes." Shepard announced loudly. "Joker, have you done the simulation as I instructed?"

"Yes, Commander. We are a go in 1 minute and 30 seconds." Joker responded.

"What do you need me to do, Shepard?" Liara had been holding her breath watching everything happening around her at lightning speed. She wanted to find out what Benezia and Shepard were planning to do. Liara felt very nervous, but she tried her best to shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen to her mother.

"I need you to persuade the Matriarch to abandon ship after we take out the geth ships. She won't listen to me." Shepard had her hands on Liara's shoulders. "Just do your best, Liara."

"30 seconds." Joker called out. At the same time, Benezia's holo sounded, "We are going in."

All three in the Comm room faced the large screen. The Matriarch's ship was heading in front of the Normandy that was still under cloaking. As the incoming geth ships form behind the Matriarch's ship, the Normandy followed after the formation. The Matriarch gave the order, "Now, Shepard." As Benezia directed her ship to bank 90 degrees starboard, the Normandy did the same move on its portside. Now they were both approaching the two outside ships in the geth's formation. Shepard and the Matriarch gave the firing order in unison. The Normandy's forward batteries barked loudly and send deep thudding sounds through the ship's body. Both geth ships were taken by surprise and absorb the bombardment through their underbellies. It was the most vulnerable spot on a geth ship since it linked directly to the heat exhaust systems. As both geth ships imploded, the Normandy and the Matriarch's ship broke outward and came back to sandwich the remaining geth ship in the middle.

Shepard was happy with the battle so far and she let herself have a sliver of hope that everyone indeed would come out of this alive. The last geth ship saw what happened to its companions, and opened side batteries firing at both enemy ships. Five fighter ships appeared on the screen. Shepard shouted into the ship's internal comm, "Wrex, let the side cannons rip!" A moment later, the geth ship was taking fire from both sides. Two geth fighters came straight for the Normandy and took out one of the cannons. Shepard called into her comm again, "Joker, we have to move to the 3rd maneuver sooner."

"Already doing it, Commander." Hearing Joker's voice, Shepard looked at the screen. The Normandy banked on its side again, trying to get under the geth ship, but this time the enemy ship was ready. It maneuvered to intercept the Normandy head on and fired its forward battery. Everyone in the Comm room felt the jolts vibrate underneath their feet. Shepard called into Engineering, "Report!"

Tali's voice came on, "We are overheating! The ship is still trying to disburse the heat generated from stealth mode and it's taking some heat from our battle stations. We are trying to compensate."

"Forward battle stations?" Shepard shouted.

Garrus came in, "Firing solution in 2 minutes."

Shepard shook her head, _come on, that's not good enough._ She turned to Ashley, "Go and work with Pressly to find us some room for Joker to get into a good position, I get a feeling that the geth ship will come after us first on Saren's kill on sight order."

Ashley ran out of the Comm room to work with Pressly. Shepard stared at the screen again, the Matriarch's ship had just taken out the final geth fighter, and Benezia's image came back into the holo, "Normandy, we will take out the lead geth ship."

"What's your status?" Shepard checked the camera screens again trying to see if the Matriarch's ship suffered visible damage.

"Our forward battery is out. That was the geth fighters' target. But we still have both starboard and portside guns ready to…" Before the Matriarch finished, another shockwave rocked the Normandy.

"We lost one of the core drives." Tali's voice came on again, "We can't take too much of this, Shepard!"

"Forward batteries!" Shepard checked again.

Garrus responded, "We are ready."

Shepard asked Joker, "You have enough power to dive, Joker? We've got to lay some heat into the beast's belly!"

"Commander, it's going to take longer because I don't have full thrusters." Joker replied. "Brace for evasive maneuvers!" As he pushed the ship's nose down, the geth ship's energy beam caught the tip of left side thruster, and it took all Joker had to stabilize the ship.

"Wrex, fire the starboard cannons!" Shepard shouted in desperation. As Normandy swayed to get steady, only half of the cannons found their target. But it was enough to make the geth ship pull up. Shepard watched the screen and saw the Matriarch's ship follow the geth ship to continue its bombardment.

The Matriarch came on the holo again, "Shepard, our primary batteries are depleted and forward guns are out. It seems the geth ship is following the Normandy. I want you to lead it to us, and clear out the path."

It took a couple of moments for Shepard and Liara to understand what the Matriarch was planning. Liara protested, "No, mother! We will take it out together."

"We still have firepower." Shepard added. "Joker, how far behind is the geth ship?"

"It's targeting us again, evasive maneuvers." Joker's voice had a slightly panicked tone. "Commander, if we want to be back in firing position, I need more power."

"Shepard, this is the only way to ensure the safety of the Normandy." The Matriarch said calmly. "We don't have a lot of time left."

"Okay. But you set the ship on autopilot, and you take your people and get on those fighters and get away from the blast. We will come back and scoop you up." Shepard prayed the Matriarch would listen to her.

"No, our ship is damaged, we are needed to keep it on course and ensure full impact, we only get one chance." The Matriarch insisted.

"No, mother. Please, don't do this!" Liara leaned on her hands holding the railing near the holo projector. She didn't realize she was shouting. "Please don't do this to me!"

"Keep full speed." The Matriarch gave an order to someone behind her. "Liara, I have to do this. I need to do this. I hope you will understand my actions one day. Help Shepard with her quest. It is your destiny."

"No, mother! Please don't leave me! I beg of you!" Liara shouted so loud that her voice broke.

While Liara was pleading with the Matriarch, Shepard checked with Engineering. Adams came on this time, "Commander, the two remaining drive cores are overheating. The left thruster is at 50% capacity. I don't think we can give Joker what he needs."

"Pressly! Have you got anything?"

Ashley responded, "Pressly is looking for something for us, but so far we don't have anything that's close. The geth ship will catch up before we get anywhere useful to stage another maneuver."

"Goddamn it!" Shepard cursed out loud. "Matriarch, do you have enough power to outrun them? We can use the terrain on Noveria to…"

"Commander, we are losing power and I don't have enough personnel to operate the ship's secondary systems to compensate." The Matriarch was confirming with her disciples for a moment, then she returned her attention to the Normandy. "I don't see other options, Commander. We have one chance at taking that ship out, and I am taking it. Your ship can still run, just lead it to us and get away from the explosion!"

Liara's eyes widened, "Mother, listen to Shepard. We will get down to Noveria's orbit and find a way there!" But she knew that neither ship had time to make it there. "In the mean time, you get into a fighter and get some distance from here!"

"Little Wing, I want you to know that I have always been proud of you. You are the best daughter a mother could ever wish for and my life was blessed because I had you." The Matriarch was saying her goodbye.

"No, no, no! I will not say goodbye. Someone help me! Anyone over there, please help me! Get the Matriarch to a fighter now!" Liara was sobbing now. She turned to Shepard, "Shepard, please tell her!" Shepard stood next to Liara and took her shoulders. Liara shook her off, "No, you can't let this happen!"

The Matriarch spoke again, "Liara, calm yourself." Then she turned to the human, "You will remember your promise?"

"For the rest of my life." Shepard's voice cracked.

The Matriarch smiled, with an utter calm she looked at Liara, "Goodnight, Little Wing. I will see you with the dawn." The holo image disappeared completely.

"Nooo!" Liara leaned forward, her face in shock.

Shepard informed Joker the plan. The Normandy pulled up to make the turn. Both Shepard and Liara were staring at the forward camera, as they saw the Matriarch's ship in the view, Liara whispered, "no, no, no, please, no…"

The Normandy took a nosedive, barely missing another wave of energy beam from the geth ship on her tail, but the beam found the Matriarch's ship as it was hurling its damaged body at the oncoming geth ship. The impact was so severe that at the moment of contact, both ships contracted as though one was going to swallow the other. It seemed time had stopped for a long while before both ships exploded together, sending chunks of metal in every direction. As the Normandy sped away from the explosion, the shockwave still rocked the ship's body.

Shepard and Liara were still staring at the screen with their mouths open after the geth ships collided. Shepard shut her eyes a moment later. She heard Liara wailing, as Shepard turned around and caught her. Liara was in shock as she grabbed onto Shepard's shoulders and sunk to the floor. She was still staring at the screen that now displayed floating broken ship pieces like abandoned space junk. "Mother!" Liara fell on Shepard and sobs rocked her body. Shepard held the asari tightly in her arms, and her own tears were coming down silently. She didn't know what to say to Liara.

What would you say to a daughter who just watched her mother die?

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**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews and PMs. All comments, reviews, suggestions and PMs are welcome.


	20. Chapter 20 Mimi the Cat

**A/N:** _Can you have a cat on a spaceship? You can on this ship!_

**In Love and War**

**Chapter Twenty – Mimi the Cat**

With the screens on three surrounding walls still flickering white noise, the comm room looked strangely large and empty. The deep corners that were usually hidden in darkness in the dimly lit room looked startling in pale lighting. Shepard had been staring at the corner while holding the sobbing asari for what seemed like an eternity. Liara finally looked up at the screen again, nothing but white light blinked back at her. Even if the Normandy's cameras were on, Liara wouldn't be able to see anything, not even a trace of metal, where her mother used to be. The blast was so strong and violent that it had pushed all matter away from the epicenter as shockwaves radiated out.

"I think I want to go back to my quarters." Liara whispered. Shepard helped Liara stand up.

"Would you like to rest in my quarters? It's more comfortable." The Commander offered.

Liara shook her head, "No, I want to be alone." She was used to being alone. She remembered how she used to always run to remote digs when she wanted to get away from her mother and from everyone else. But then she'd always go back home. Even though her mother's view of how she should be leading her life irritated her, she knew she'd be safe at home. But now she was utterly alone in the universe, she had nobody to go back home to.

Shepard stood in the middle of the mess hall alone, not knowing what to do next. The Normandy was mostly drifting to let the systems cool down. She took out the scarf Benezia had given her and she stared at it feeling completely lost. After all that planning, she still failed Liara. She wished this day had never happened.

After she got cleaned up and changed into fresh clothes, Shepard went to see Pressly to find a suitable planet to buy parts and get the ship repaired, and then talked with Tali and Adams. The ship will be in a much better state once they could get the drive cores to cool down and start repairs. Garrus, Wrex and Ashley had gathered and were waiting for Shepard in the mess hall. Garrus updated everyone on the ship's guns and then said he needed to calibrate them and disappeared. Wrex was actually pleased with his charge and muttered, "Those whelps earned their pay today." Ashley lingered longer but couldn't find the right words to say, so she told the Commander, "I will check in on Shiala." Shepard gave her a grateful nod.

Shepard took a cup of hot tea and knocked on Liara's door. There was no answer, but she entered anyway. Liara was sitting at her desk, hands holding her head in darkness. "Liara, I brought you a cup of hot tea." Shepard walked over to the desk and turned on the desk lamp. Liara didn't respond. Shepard continued, "Liara, you might feel better if you drink something." She offered the teacup closer to the asari.

"I don't want to drink, Shepard! I want my mother to live!" Liara's voice was full of anger as she stood up quickly and turned to face Shepard. Her arm knocked the teacup right out of the human's hand. When Liara looked down at her own hands, she saw her biotics flaring, the teacup was in pieces on the floor across the room and Shepard holding her hand that just got burned by the hot liquid. Liara looked down at her hands again; they were trembling but no longer glowing. She felt the trembling in her hands spreading to her stomach, then to her legs; she took a deep breath trying to still her body, but her mind was still burning with the images of the exploding ship and her mother's face that was disturbingly calm. _How could she be so calm when facing death?_

Liara had seen death before. You didn't roam around the galaxy for that long without seeing people die, in accidents, in sickness and even by her own hands when bandits tried to harm her at remote dig sites. Her mother had even brought her to a few disaster-struck planets to deliver relief, where death had left devastating destruction in its wake. She had seen the color of the skin and vacant stare on dead corpses, they might have seemed haunting to her at the time, but death had never hurt Liara. Not until today. The images of the fiery explosion and her mother's calm face uprooted her nerves; her breathing couldn't catch up with her heartbeat, and her legs couldn't stop shaking. "How could she be so calm when facing death?" This time she wondered out loud.

Shepard could see Liara was shaking. She walked closer to the asari. "Why don't you sit down?" She pulled the desk chair and tugged lightly on the asari's arm. Liara sat back down, no longer angry. Looking at the corner of the room with a blank stare, Liara asked, "Does sadness make your skin change color?"

"What do you mean?" Shepard pulled up another chair and sat next to Liara.

"Benezia never looked so dark before. She always had a brilliant blue skin. I was always envious of her skin color. How did she turn so grey?" Liara shifted her gaze to Shepard.

Shepard looked down at her burned throbbing hand, "You were asking me why she looked so calm when facing death? I think this is what she wanted and she had made peace with it. She lived her life bravely, honorably and spectacularly; and she chose to die the same way."

"And in doing so, she left me all alone." Liara leaned into the back of the chair.

"Except she didn't leave you alone. She asked me if I'd be there for you and protect you no matter what happens, and I gave her my word of honor that I would. She left you knowing that you wouldn't be alone." Shepard gathered up Liara's hands, "And she was right. You are no longer alone. You may still think that way because you've been on your own for so long. But whether you expect it or not, I'm here with you, and I'll never stop being here for you." Shepard stopped, trying to fight the tightness forming in her throat.

The trails of old tears on Liara's face were repainted with new ones. The asari held the human's burned hand to her face. "I am sorry I hurt you, Shepard."

Dutifully wiping the tears off Liara's face, Shepard shook her head and smirked. "What, this? This is nothing. If you need a punching bag any time, I'm open 24/7." That brought a chuckle out of the asari.

"While I am sure the pain will diminish with time, the fact is even after all we have done it was still not enough. It seems so hopeless." Liara sighed. Shepard winced at the despair in the asari's voice.

"I know, Liara. The only hope we have against bigger and stronger enemies is to make ourselves bigger and stronger. And to do that we have to pull anyone we can together, anyone who has something precious to lose if we don't stop the Reapers." Shepard wanted to lend her own strength and conviction to Liara, hoping that her friend would take the helping hand.

"There is nothing we can do to bring her back, but there is something you can do for your mother. Many people are still thinking of her as a traitor. But we know the truth and we are the only ones who can help clear her name. I want you to use any contact you have on Thessia and the Citadel, anyone who knew the Matriarch and still believes in her wisdom, to get the truth of how she died. I will do my part with Tevos, I promise you." Shepard took a deep breath and waited for Liara's reaction.

Tears had dried in Liara's eyes. She looked at Shepard intensely, feeling the warmth radiating from the human's hands. "Shepard, I did not think of that. I will start on that right away."

Shepard smiled at Liara's reaction. Seeing her eyes darting from one side to another trying to think of ways to accomplish the task at hand. "Good! But not tonight. Tonight, you rest." She took Liara to the small cot behind the storage crates. Shepard knew that she had pointed the asari on a path of action to help redeem her mother's name, but she had to suppress a sigh, the galaxy really didn't need another daughter to redeem their family's sins, first Ashley and now Liara. "Here's a pill Dr. Chakwas gave me to help you get some sleep. I will stay here until you do, okay?"

xxxxxxxxxxx

A few days later the Normandy docked at a nearby planet to finish ship's repairs, and Shepard walked into Liara's quarters in the morning. The asari had been spending too much time in her quarters, working on her terminal and also hiding from the crew. Shepard had been bringing her food and drink for the last few days, but today the Commander had other ideas. "Liara, we're having a staff breakfast meeting. Your presence as part of this crew is required." Liara only nodded her agreement and followed the Commander out of the med bay.

Shepard led Liara to the mess hall and stopped at a table where everyone had gathered. "Good morning, everybody!" Shepard sat down on the bench and signaled Liara to sit next to her. Ashley put breakfast plates in front of the Commander and the asari. Shepard picked up her fork and looked at the square block that was supposed to be eggs and said loudly. "Every meal is a banquet in the Corps!" The Marines who heard her voice in the mess shouted, "Oorah!" Shepard smiled and looked at Liara, "Pretend you are a Marine, then you'll find the food isn't really all that bad." She gave the asari a sweet grin. Liara picked up her fork.

Eyeing Wrex who had finished with his food, Shepard nodded. "Wrex, don't you have a present for Tali?"

Wrex stood up, "I sure do." He walked over to put his food tray back and took something from underneath the counter and hid it behind his large back while returning to the table.

"For me? I thought we were here to give Liara…Ouch!" A kick from Shepard under the table stopped Tali.

Wrex stood next to the quarian and brought a large weapon in front. "We liberated this from the worms near the Omega mines. I'd have brought the hand that clenched it as a bonus, but Shepard said no. So here you go."

"An ML-77 rocket launcher!" Tali jumped up from her seat! "Oh, Wrex! This is too much!"

Wrex sat back down smiling. Shepard chuckled looking at the excited quarian. "Tali, I think Wrex is still hoping you'd make it into a krogan launcher."

Tali stroked her new toy. "Commander, I'll work with Ashley and make this into something you'd be very proud of." She put her toy away and sat down again.

Shepard looked around the table and saw everyone was ready. She turned to the asari, "Liara, you're not just a squad mate to us, but a friend and family. We can't imagine what you're going through right now, but we wanted to show you that you're not alone. Okay?" Liara lifted her head up from her untouched food, and when she looked into Shepard's deep green eyes, and the color suddenly reminded her of the beautiful forest she loved on her last vacation with her mother. Shepard gave Liara's shoulder a light squeeze and turned to Tali. "You want to go first, Tali?"

Tali took out a small orb that fitted in her palm and extended her hand to Liara. "This is an RC core that every quarian carries. It's a small memory module that stores the star map of Rannoch, our home world, and the old codes quarians used to use to land on the planet. Each of us carries one to remind us of our home and to give us hope that one day we'll have a home world again. My mother gave this to me."

Liara looked at the small silver orb in Tali's gloved hand, and then at Tali's facemask. Moisture gathered in Liara's eyes. "Oh, Tali! I can't take that from you."

Tali poked at a small spot on the orb, and a surprisingly large star chart holo jumped to life and zoomed until the profile of Rannoch took over the entire projection. "No, this isn't my orb. Mine is still in here." She patted her breast pocket that only she knew how to open, "My mother had hoped that in her lifetime the Migrant Fleet would allow more than one child. She was saving this for my future brother or sister, but she passed away when I was still young." She kept her hand leveled in front of Liara, holding the orb.

Liara picked up the orb with a slightly shaky hand, "Thank you, Tali! This…this, I don't know what to say."

"You're welcome, Liara." Tali's voice rang with happiness. "I think my mother would have liked to give me a sister."

Wrex stood up again and loudly he set down a dagger with a slight curve. "Well, mine is easy. You need to always carry this with you. When all weapons fail, the Dagger of Varren's Tooth can always save your skin. This one belonged to my father." He turned back and sat back down at the other end of the table.

Liara was speechless. She held the RC orb in one hand and picked up the Dagger of Varren's Tooth with another. She understood now why Shepard insisted on making her eat in the mess hall.

Kaidan pulled a small disc from his pocket, "Well, this isn't anything useful, but it has all Blasto movies to date. I know it's stupid, but maybe they will give you a few laughs." He gave Liara a crooked smile. Liara let out a small chuckle.

Garrus lifted a container with a handle that'd been sitting near his feet and walked over to where Liara was sitting, and Ashley joined them. Garrus pressed a small button on the container, and waited for the lid to slide open. Inside the container, a small light orange animal curled up sleeping. Ashley took the animal out and put it in Liara's hands.

Liara stared at the soft creature curiously. Its back feet climbed in the air until its small body curled up and its feet landed in Liara's hands as well. "What is this, Ashley?"

"Uh, it's a kitten, a human pet. We found her hiding in an old toolbox near the spaceport where we're getting our ship repaired. Skipper says it's okay for you to keep it. I suck at giving names. She said 'Mimi' when she first spoke, so I named her 'Mimi'. "

The kitten looked tired. She stretched her mouth, as if smiling, and let out a big yawn. Her large eyes that were staring at Liara's face started drooping. Liara instinctively cradled the kitten in her arm. The cat rubbed the top of her head on Liara's shoulder a couple of times and fell asleep with her head against the asari's shoulder and her face hiding under her paw.

"She's vibrating." Liara's voice was soaked with delight as she looked up at Ashley again.

Both Ashley and Shepard laughed. "She's purring. That means she likes you." Ashley explained.

"Can I really keep her?" Liara asked Shepard.

Shepard smiled widely, "As long as you keep her out of places she isn't supposed to go." Then she looked at Wrex, "No, Wrex. This doesn't mean you can keep a pet varren onboard."

Garrus had been standing next to Ashley patiently waiting for his turn, and when he saw the opening, he brought Liara's attention to the cat carrier. "Liara, I created this for Mimi with spare parts from the Makos. With some creative design from Tali, I've made the sleeping space as comfortable as possible. It's big enough for her to stand up and turn around but small enough to feel cozy when she sleeps. There's built-in gravity control, air pressure and temperature control. And I've also taken the liberty to build an automated food and water feeder that's on a timer. You can set the feeding intervals based on Mimi's needs and habits. But most of all, it's very light so that you can carry her easily with you when you need to. I've…"

Ashley cut him off, "Garrus, you do know that Mimi belongs to Liara now, right?" Everyone burst out laughing. Ashley wasn't finished. "I gave Mimi to Garrus for two days so that he could build the carrier and test it. He almost didn't want to give her back!"

Kaidan patted Garrus on the back, "Sorry, man." He was trying hard not to laugh at the turian.

"Well, you know how it is…" Garrus closed the carrier. Everyone was chuckling until Liara spoke with small tears rolling on her face.

"Thank you so much, everyone. I don't know what to say."

The morning hours were gone. Everyone else had cleared the mess hall. Shepard took the pet carrier and tilted her head toward her quarters. "Come on, I've got something for Mimi."

The pair walked to Shepard's quarters and the Commander led the asari to the sofa with the cat still sleeping on her shoulder. Shepard took out a small cushion from her closet and put it in the cat carrier. "I made this from an old shirt and some padding. It will make it softer for her to sleep in there. Cats sleep a lot." Shepard sat on the sofa and put the small pillow in the carrier.

Liara carefully took the kitten from her shoulder and put her on the cushion. She gently stroked her head, and that made the kitten stir and stretch out one of her arms without waking up. Liara's expression was soft as the morning had chased away the gloom she felt while she was sitting alone in the lab.

"She likes you." Shepard said softly. It was such a relief to see Liara smile again.

"Shepard, thank you for making me feel at home. I felt so lost and hopeless." Liara gave Mimi another light pat and let Shepard put the case next the coffee table.

Shepard took out a small box from her pocket and put it in Liara's hands. Liara opened it and found a military medal with Systems Alliance logo. She looked up at the human, "Shepard, is this your medal?"

"No, I don't keep my medals. My mom has them all." Shepard paused for a moment, "I actually hate my medals. They awarded me those every time I killed well, taking a large number of lives." Lowering her gaze at the medal in the asari's hands, "But this one, this one is special to me. It was awarded to my mom for saving a quarian ship and thousands of people onboard." Shepard held Liara's hands. "It's precious to me because my mom earned it for saving lives. Liara, your mother died saving us, saving the Normandy, and most of all saving you."

Liara stared at the metal and she took a deep breath. "Shepard, I appreciate what you have done for me. And the crew…I have never experienced this before."

"This is your home now, and we are your family." Shepard was still holding the asari's hands. "Liara, you are the strongest person I know, you'll get through this. WE will get through this."

Liara looked up at the Commander. "I do not want to just get through this. I want to fight along your side and see it through to the end. That is a promise." The asari said with such conviction that her voice woke up the kitten. The cat stood up in the case, holding onto the edge with both of her paws trying to see outside of her box. Her small head turned to Liara, and her mouth curved up again as she yawned and let out a long meow.

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**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews and PMs. All comments, reviews, suggestions and PMs are welcome.


	21. Chapter 21 Creepy Krogans

**In Love and War**

**Chapter Twenty-One – Creepy Krogans**

Shepard stepped out of the elevator on the crew deck and called Joker on the comm. "Joker, I can't find Garrus. You know where he is?"

"Commander, Garrus is in Liara's quarters." Joker answered.

"What about Ashley?"

"She's also in Liara's quarters."

"Do you know what they're doing?" Shepard walked towards the med bay.

"I don't know. Probably having group sex. If we had a ship-wide VI, I'd send her to spy on them."

"Never mind, Joker. I'm in the med bay now." The med bay was completely deserted.

"Take pictures." Joker cut out his comm.

Shepard knocked on the door to the lab but nobody answered. She opened the door and heard several voices call out together, "Shut the door!" Shepard reflexively hit the button to close the door. "What's going on?" But her voice was lost in the shouting that had been going on before she came in.

Liara was standing in the middle of the room and looking up at the top of stacked crates. "Mimi T'Soni, you get down here this instant!" She sounded frustrated.

Shepard followed Liara's eyes and looked up, but there was nothing there. She looked at Ashley who was standing in the corner of the room by the door, both arms spreading out as she moved cautiously towards the crates as though she was herding a chicken. Shepard walked to the side of the crates, trying to figure out what was going on. Dr. Chakwas was bending over a lower crate. Her butt was in the air and her arms stretched out with her hands pushing off the floor. The doctor's head was hanging upside down as she was trying to look under the small sleeping cot.

"She's on your left, Pierce!" shouted Dr. Chakwas.

"Got her!" Pierce's voice came out from under the cot, also shouting. "No, I lost her again."

Shepard understood now what her crewmembers were trying to do and decided to be helpful. "Liara, why don't you use your biotics to trap her?"

"No!" everyone in the room answered. Ashley explained, "She tried. First she put Pierce in a stasis field and then the teacup." The Marine points at the desk where Garrus was working on the cat carrier with his tools.

Shepard walked over to Garrus but stopped before she got close to him. "Garrus, what's that smell?"

Garrus looked up with a smile and shouted over the others' voices. "The automated photon kitty litter cleaner in the case is malfunctioning. If Ashley had given me one more day to adjust it before giving Mimi to Liara, I would have gotten it right the first time."

Pierce crawled out from under the cot, her uniform in a twist. "She's too slippery. I almost had her, but she slipped out of my hand."

Dr. Chakwas appeared from behind the crates, her always impeccable hair was completely disheveled and it looked like a wild mushroom. "We need a better plan." The doctor offered.

Seeing Liara resting her forehead in her hand as she shook her head, Shepard let out a moan, "Why did I agree to this?"

Garrus walked over, "Oh, for spirits' sakes." He stood next to the tallest stack of crates and started to cluck his mandibles making a rapid tussling sound. Out of nowhere, the light orange kitten leapt out and jumped into Garrus' arms. The turian picked up the small animal carefully and handed her to Liara. Just like that, the chaos was over. Everyone was standing next to Liara and taking their turn petting the creature who was now licking Liara's fingers with her tiny pink tongue.

Shepard released a sigh of relief and signaled Garrus to follow her out of the lab. "What happened to the data I asked you to analyze?"

Garrus took a piece of medical cleaning pad and wiped his hands. "I've looked at it and I gave it to Wrex to double check on something that seemed odd in the data from both Lonar and Aleena. It looks like Saren is amassing an army of krogans on Virmire, and Wrex would know about any clan that size, but he has no idea where these krogans come from."

"What's the theory then?"

"Wrex thinks they might be from other krogan clans bred on remote planets in the fringe of the galaxy and Saren somehow found them." Garrus was leading Shepard to the elevator to go down and meet with Wrex.

"But you don't agree?" Shepard sensed the hesitation from the former C-Sec detective.

"I double checked the cryo tanks Saren ordered and delivered to Virmire. Guess what the tanks' size is?"

"Saren is breeding krogans. But that will take years." Shepard furrowed her brows. "Saren couldn't have been at this for that long. Someone would have discovered this."

As they reached the cargo bay, Wrex heard their conversation. He walked over to meet them, "That's why we need to go to Virmire. We need to find out where these krogans came from."

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Shepard's plea with the Council was fruitless as usual. The only thing useful that came out of the vidcall was that the salarian councilor informed her an STG team had already been on the ground and they suspected Saren's presence there. It baffled Shepard that the Council placed so little trust in their own people. After an STG team and a Spectre presented them with corroborative data, the councilors still chose to send one frigate to face Saren and his geth army with the possibility of thousands of krogans joining forces with them. And when she met the captain of the STG on Virmire, she found that he agreed with her.

"You're the help they sent? No fleet or more auxiliaries?" The salarian captain blinked his large eyes a few times. After devising a plan to distract the geth troops in the front of the facilities and set a nuclear bomb in the waterway at the base of the AA gun tower, Captain Kirrahe confessed, "Commander Shepard, we're sent here not to hunt Saren. I believe the Council gave you that job. We're here to eliminate the krogans Saren has managed to acquire."

Both Shepard and Wrex walked closer to the salarian. "What do you mean by 'acquire'?" Wrex let Shepard ask questions first.

"A salarian corporation was contracted by our leaders on Sur'Kesh to create a large army of krogans and keep them inactive until the need for war arises. My recon team has reliable intel that these krogans are now completely under Saren's control. The only thing we don't know is how Saren managed that." Captain Kirrahe tried to ignore Wrex's hard stare but failed miserably. He blinked again, his lips shaking, intimidated by the krogan's large snarling face and heavy breathing through gritted teeth. "I didn't make this decision. I'm just here to carry out an order."

Shepard answered, "I think we know how Saren is controlling them, but we need to go down there and check it out." She turned to Wrex's angry face, "We don't have much time."

The salarian captain hesitated and then gave Shepard a nod. "Good luck, Commander. I hope you find better news down there than what my people found. I will take your Marine teams and buy you enough time and set up the bomb. But I suggest you don't linger for too long."

Outside the breeding chamber, Tali scanned with her omni-tool. "My scan shows they're krogan life forms, though their vitals are weak and they all have significant implants that aren't usually seen in organic beings."

Wrex pushed forward. Shepard rushed to follow him. "Wrex, wait. We don't know if there're traps or what we'll run into. We can't just charge in unprepared."

Wrex stopped but kept his body facing the entrance of the cryo chamber. "Shepard, these could be my brothers. I have to rescue them from Saren and Sovereign if there's a slim chance. They're a large clan, we could use their help."

Wrex's face was unreadable, but his intensions were abundantly clear. Shepard stood in front of the krogan and looked him in the eye. "Wrex, we'll need you to have a clear head going in there. I will need you when things go south."

Wrex didn't hesitate. "Shepard, I follow you not because I can't be my own battlemaster. I follow you because I believe in what you're doing. Curing the genophage is also something I believe in. I trust you to do the right thing and you're just going have to trust me to do the same."

When Tali hacked the door open, everyone dropped their jaw. The enormous room seemed to go on forever. Large cryo chambers standing imposingly from floor to ceiling lined the walls on both sides. Wrex eagerly walked into the room as soon as the door opened, but he slowed his pace momentarily to take in the large number of tanks. "There has to be thousands of them!" He glanced from one side of the room to the other and then he moved quickly to the closest tank and looked up at the creature inside. It was undeniably a krogan, a large one too. His head pitched back and his eyes closed, and his body had perfect muscle tone. Wrex started to look around the cryo for an opening control. "We have to let them out, or at least one of them. I want to talk to him."

Shepard paused for a few moments and she nodded at Tali. Tali gave her a look and voiced everyone's unspoken concern. "Are you sure?" Shepard gave her a wave. Tali moved closer to the tank and tapped on the controls. The door of the cryo tank hissed and lifted upward while letting out a huff of steam when cryogen hit room temperature. The massive krogan fell out of the tank, still unconscious. Wrex stepped up and grabbed him by the two shoulder joints on his armor and lowered him to the floor.

Wrex bent down and checked his hearts, "He appears to be alive and healthy." His teammates had their weapons trained on the krogan sitting against the base of the cryo chamber. His armor was bright red and his head shell is large and brilliant blue. If this were another place and another time, Wrex would have been amused at the tribe or clan that produced such an intimating physique and he would have asked them to join forces. But he must be careful with this krogan who had no lineage and no clan. He learned a long time ago from his father to not easily give credence and respect to krogans who hadn't been baked under the Tuchanka sun.

The red armored krogan slowly opened his eyes; their color was iridescent blue. He took a few deep breaths and then looksed up. His glance landed on Wrex as he slowly picked himself up. He stretched his body wide and flexed muscles on his arms. He let out a deep frightening roar that made everyone take a step back, but Wrex stood his ground. The krogan focused his eyes on Wrex, "We are ready to serve our master. Where is Saren?"

Wrex's expression turned from curiosity to suspicion. "Do you know why you want to serve Saren?"

The other krogan's eyes were glowing blue light, "We are programed to obey Saren, but our true master is Sovereign. We were bred to kill all organics. We must obey Saren." Before Wrex or anyone behind him could respond, the cryo-bred krogan raised his arms. A crackling blue energy engulfed him. Without a moment's hesitation, he sent a large glowing ball at the group. The biotic throw was so powerful that when Liara put up her barrier her feet slid on the floor backwards until she hit the wall at the end of the room.

Shepard shouted, "Cover!" and pushed Tali behind some stacked crates as she dove behind them herself. Garrus and Wrex who were standing in the middle of the room had nowhere to duck; their bodies tumbled backwards and their feet were lifted up in the air. If it weren't for Liara's biotic shield that slowed their flight, they'd been flattened when they hit the wall.

Liara had hunkered down on one knee with one arm raised to reinforce the energy throw that countered the krogan's, her brows were knit and she was grunting. Shepard had never seen Liara straining to hold her biotic energy this much before. She quickly looked over at Wrex as she took out a stun grenade. Wrex nodded and scrambled to his feet while Shepard tossed the grenade at the blue-eyed krogan. It only stunned him for a moment, but that was enough for Wrex to rush forward in a rage and head butted his target and dropped the dazed krogan on the floor. Wrex took the opportunity to jump on the other krogan's body, but the face of the enemy startled Wrex. Dark blue lines had spread from his eyes throughout his face and down to his neck and they pulsed a faint and eerie blue light. The husk-looking krogan spoke and his voice had changed.

"You are one of us." A metallic tone echoed so slightly behind the krogan's true voice. "Join us, brother. We can fight for Saren. We are brothers. We obey our master that's eternal. Join us. You can be eternal just like us. Together we serve Sovereign."

Wrex's face grew angry and he seized the husk's large shell and pushed his own face close to the phantom blue eyes.

"You are **not** my brother! My brothers face fire-breathing earthworms that can swallow a small mountain and call it a rite. My brothers walk among the oldest civilizations in the galaxy and call them weak and have beaten them in wars." He shook the dark faced krogan's head once, "You don't know the first thing about being my brother! My brothers honor our clan and fight for our people's survival. You! You're a husk creep. You know no honor and you know no freedom. Your mind doesn't belong to you therefore your body is an empty shell. You're an abomination to all krogans!" Wrex took out his Knife of Varren's Tooth and thrust it into five deadly spots precisely on the krogan husk and waited until the body stopped jerking under his weight. Wrex stood up and his red eyes burned like a hot sun.

"You are not my brother!" The krogan wiped his knife on the dead husk's body and sheathed it back to the side of his leg. He walked towards the door without looking at his comrades. "We need to blow this place sky high!"

Something stopped him in his tracks. A large booming sound went off in the distance. Shepard raised Joker on her comm, "Joker, what's going on?"

"Ah… What did you say at the beacon, Commander? Cause the black ship, you know Sovereign, just appeared from an underground launch bay. We have to stay low for a while."

Before Shepard had a moment to consider what she just heard on her comm, a thunder of cryo chamber locks popping open echoed in the room, and an army of krogans fell out of the tanks and dropped on the floor. Sovereign had unleashed his army.

Garrus shot first, and then everyone opened fire as they backed out of the room. Shepard shouted to Tali over the loud barking of several weapons, "Shut the door! Jam it so they can't get out!" Tali somehow heard her through the gunfire and she docked her shotgun and started tapping on the door panel.

To everyone's horror, the husk krogans started to get up on their feet one after another. As they flexed their muscles, a few of them raised their arms and their omni-tools turned into giant orange fists. As though their minds were connected, the husk krogans gave a collective hard growl and slammed down their omni fists on the floor at the same time, sending dead bodies flying in a powerful shockwave and clearing a path to the door. From the back of the room, a krogan with spikes on his head and back, larger than the rest, is pushing his way through his brethren, and charging towards the door in bursts. Garrus was the first to react again, this time shouting, "SHIT!"

Everyone else got behind Tali and shouted, "Hurry up!"

Tali was in her element, oblivious to everyone's shouting in her ears. Her fingers flying as she was muttering jamming procedures to herself.

As the large spiky krogan making his way to the door, several biotic krogans were charging up their energy. Liara's eyes widened. As her teammates continued to pour bullets into the room, the asari put up a barrier around the team. Several biotic throws collided with her shield and then a meteor shower of biotic waves followed, hitting her shield like fireworks. Liara bit down on her lip and ground out the words, "Hurry the fuck up!"

When the door finally locked, everyone let out a very audible sigh of relief, and Liara dropped to her knees. Tali and Shepard helped Liara up, and Tali explained, "I'm sorry, Liara. The release program that triggered both the tanks and the door had 3 layers of anti-hacking codes. I've seen this before and knew where to look, otherwise it would have taken much longer…"

Wrex was already at the elevator, holding the door for everyone to get in. "Can we chat later? I want to kick some ass!"

As soon as Shepard's team came out of the AA gun tower, Wrex jumped into the waterway, ignoring the barricade that the Marines had set up and charged the geth machines in a full-blown blood rage. Someone from the Marine team shouted, "Check your fire", but nobody could hear it or slowed down their trigger fingers.

Rockets were flying from both directions. Shepard thought, 'Oh, good! Someone brought Tali's ML-77.' In the bedlam of gunfire, rocket explosions and Wrex's earth-shattering growls, Saren swooped down on a flying platform and caught Shepard by her neck and held a gun to her gut. "Shepard, your actions are frivolous against the fate of the galaxy." Saren taunted.

Liara and Garrus flanked them trying to get a clear shot at Saren. Shepard's feet were off the ground, but she struggled and tried to kick the turian. The Normandy boomed overhead, and Shepard felt her body quake as if something punched her side. Liara shot a biotic blast, but not at full strength as she didn't want to hurt Shepard accidentally. It caught Saren's attention, giving Shepard enough time to punch him in the face. He dropped the human, and everyone including the Marines behind the barricade opened fire on him. Saren hopped on his flying platform and escaped.

Shepard tried to catch her breath while coughing. Liara broke into a run toward her. Shepard pointed at Ashley, "Check on Ash and make sure the bomb is armed." Liara stopped in her tracks and turned to Ashley instead and started jamming medi-gel into Ashley's stomach wound. As the geth troops thinned out in the waterway, Shepard could finally hear the frantic chatter on her comm.

"Our position is overrun, Commander!" Kaidan shouted into the comm.

"Group 1 and Group 2, get to the pick up point. Cover the exit, don't let the geth cut us off!" Captain Kirrahe shouted to his men at the same time.

"I'm arming the bomb!" Ashley's voice also came on the comm.

Shepard looked in Ashley's direction, but coudn't see exactly what she was doing behind the barricade. She shouted into her comm, "Sound off!" Everyone goes silent. "Captain Kirrahe?"

"I've got group 1 and 2, or what's left of us onto the Normandy now!" The salarian captain responded.

Only a few moments later, the Normandy landed above the waterway. Shepard shouted into her comm again, "Kaidan, what's your status?"

"There are just too many of them. Our exit is compromised. Just get the bomb armed and leave, Commander! We will hold them!" Kaidan shouted in between firing.

"Kaidan, you hold as long as you can. I'm getting you out. You just focus on staying alive. That's an order!"

Shepard shouted at the Marines protecting the bomb, "Everybody get to the Normandy, now! The bomb is going off soon and we've got to hurry and get to Kaidan!" She swung Ashley over her shoulder and started running. She looked over at Wrex who was clubbing a Geth Destroyer with its own arm, "Wrex, grab everyone who can't walk, back to the Normandy!"

"Kaidan, come in!" Shepard was out of breath, carrying Ashley while running. "Kaidan, answer your goddamn comm!" Static was all that came through. "Captain Kirrahe, can you raise anyone on your team in group 3?"

"No, Commander. The area is completely overrun by geth troops." Kirrahe responded.

After everyone boarded the ship, Joker's voice came on, "Hold on to something, it's going to get bumpy."

Shepard, Liara and Wrex were carrying the wounded and running toward the med bay. Shepard called Joker, "Get to Kaidan, Joker!" With Pierce's help, Shepard put Ashley down on a bio bed, "Dr. Chakwas, Ashley needs immediate medical attention!" Dr. Chakwas was already in her surgical outfit and read to go.

As soon as the doctor and her two nurses closed the surgery curtain, Shepard walked toward the door with Liara following her closely. The med bay door swooshed open. Captain Kirrahe and another salarian STG member helped a wounded teammate walk into the med bay. "Commander Shepard, we need assistance. Our doctor can take care of the wounded, but we need your equipment."

Shepard turned around and called to Pierce who had just finished putting an IV in an injured Marine. "Pierce, show the Captain whatever his doctor needs." Pierce ran over to help.

"Thank you, Commander." The salarian captain said quickly. Shepard nodded and left the room. She walked into the mess, away from the chaos in the med bay. She hit her comm, "Joker, report!"

"Commander, no serious damage to the ship from the geth ground attacks. Adams and Tali are still checking everything out down in the Engineering, but initial scans didn't show anything we need to worry about."

"The bomb?" Shepard asked weakly, her heart was now racing and she felt a little lightheaded.

"It went off. The whole area is flattened, nothing left there...nobody survived." Joker's voice slowed down, "I've been scanning since you all came back onboard, though I didn't know what I'd find, I don't know, something..." His voice trailed off.

"Thank you, Joker." Shepard's voice was just a little more than a whisper.

Liara had been standing in the shadows outside of the med bay after following Shepard out, giving her space to talk to Joker. Now she saw Shepard standing alone in the middle of the mess hall, the asari walked behind her and pulled Shepard's arm so that she could face her. Shepard didn't hear Liara's footsteps, as her ears were pounding from her racing heart. When Liara grabbed her arm, Shepard's body jolted a little as if she'd been startled, but a wave of shooting pain told her there was a gunshot wound on her right side. She quickly gripped the back of a chair and stood against it to stop the slight shaking of her body that was reacting to the pain.

Liara's eyes widened as she saw Shepard's face turning sheet white, and she suddenly remembered Saren's pistol against Shepard's chest. She couldn't see if Saren had pulled the trigger and had wanted to check on Shepard after Saren took off. But Shepard ordered her to help Ashley and the other Marines. She was berating herself for not remembering to check on the Commander until now. She put her hands out to help steady Shepard, but her hand touched the gunshot entry point and Shepard's body shuddered. The pain had radiated to the lower part of her body. "Shepard, we need to get you into the infirmary now!" Liara was in full panic mode now.

"No! Ash needs Dr. Chakwas!" Shepard ground her teeth as she let out the words. "I'm not losing Ashley!" Not after Jenkins, and now Kaidan. Her eyes looked like they could almost spit fire. She waited for a few moments to calm her body down and then she looked at Liara. "Help me get out of my armor."

Liara's heart was breaking as she saw Shepard's face, full of guilt and pain, and her voice almost begging. She immediately looked for clasps on Shepard's armor, keeping her touch delicate and hands steady. Once all the clasps were undone, Liara pulled the armor off of Shepard's upper body. A piece of metal on the armor had dug into the flesh when the bullet hit at close range, and as the armor was pulled away, it pulled the flesh with it. Shepard let out a cry, dropped to her knees with her eyes tightly shut. She fought waves of dizziness and nausea as she tightens the grip on the back of the chair, willing her body to calm down. Tears sipped through her tightly shut eyes and her breaths short.

"I am so sorry, Shepard!" Liara dropped down to hold Shepard's shoulders, feeling her own eyes tearing. The asari pushed all the fallen armor pieces aside and lifted Shepard's undershirt. She gasped, "Goddess!" The bullet hole was larger than normal, as Saren had pulled the trigger with his weapon against Shepard's armor. Several layers of blood had dried and now looked more black than red. A small but steady stream of blood was still coming out from the wound and a piece of flesh caught by the broken armor was now dangling with more blood seeping out through the exposed muscle.

Liara's face turned ashen, "Goddess!" She exclaimed once more before sliding her arm under Shepard's, "I am taking you to Dr. Chakwas!"

"No, am not…losing…Ashley." Shepard felt she couldn't catch enough air in her lungs and she begun panting in short breaths.

"I am not losing you, Shepard!" Without waiting for a reply, Liara brought up glowing energy to both hands and lifted Shepard smoothly off the floor and started walking toward the med bay.

Shepard felt her weight disappear and the room spinning. She focused her vision on Liara's face instead. Her lips were so full...such a deep violet. She wanted to touch those lips with her own. As she tried to bend over to get closer to Liara's face, sharp pain shot through her spine, making Shepard arch her back in reaction as she shut her eyes tightly and bit down her jaw. Feeling Liara's warm touch through the biotic field intensifying, Shepard opened her eyes in search of Liara's face. Through the light biotic flares, Shepard saw Liara's freckles dancing on her face like stars sparkling in a deep blue sky. Wow, so beautiful! Shepard murmured as she lost her view of the beauty to the shapeless darkness.

Liara was trying to hurry while maintaining graceful steps so she didn't jar Shepard's body. Shepard struggled in her biotic hold as if she wanted to get off. Liara tightened her grip by adding more energy, 'I will not lose you!' she repeated the thought, reassuring herself that Shepard would be okay. She had to be. When Shepard stopped struggling, Liara looked down at her. "You are going to be fine." She tried to give Shepard a smile. Shepard smiled back before closing her eyes. As her head fell onto Liara's shoulder, Liara heard Shepard whispering, "You are so beautiful."

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**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews and PMs. All comments, reviews, suggestions and PMs are welcome.


	22. Chapter 22 Bras and Beethoven

**In Love and War**

**Chapter Twenty–Two – Bras and Beethoven**

Shepard suddenly let out a groan and turned her head to the side with her eyes still closed. Liara immediately stood up and put a hand lightly on the human's face. She didn't know if Shepard was in pain or she was dreaming.

It'd been over 40 hours since Liara forcefully took Shepard into the med bay and 30 hours after Dr. Chakwas declared the Commander was out of danger. The doctor had skillfully repaired the damage caused by Saren's gunshot but the blood loss was a more serious problem and the doctor had put Shepard in an intensive care mode with oxygen therapy to help her breathe more comfortably.

Liara had not left the med bay. First she helped Dr. Chakwas comfort Pierce and then she helped Ashley after her surgery. Ashley's wound has healed nicely thanks to the field treatment Liara gave her on Virmire and the immediate surgery Dr. Chakwas performed as soon as they got back. When Liara told Ashley the reason Shepard didn't want to seek medical help was because she wanted the doctor to save Ashley first, the Marine was furious. "Why is everyone treating me like a baby!" She should have been tougher back on Virmire and taken Kaidan's place.

Shepard groaned again and she opened her eyes. She felt a hand holding hers.

"Shepard, are you in pain?" Liara asked softly.

"How…how long…" She was in pain but she didn't want to go back to sleep, not yet.

"How long have you been out?" Liara gripped her hand tighter. "A day and a half. You lost a lot of blood and had a punctured lung to go with the gunshot wound."

Shepard tried not to let out another groan, but as she gritted her teeth, her back arched slightly. "I will get Dr. Chakwas for you." Liara made a move to leave, but Shepard tried to hold on to her hand as hard as she could.

"No, I don't want more pain killers yet." She took a few breaths and waited for the pain to settle down, and then she turned her head to look at Liara, "Ar…are you alright, Liara?" The asari had tired eyes and tear stains on her face.

"Me? You are worried about me?" Liara found the human puzzling some times. "How are you feeling?" She settled back down, still holding Shepard's hand.

"It feels like I'm being jabbed by a hot poker. But I'm okay as long as I don't have to get up and go into another firefight right this minute." She tried to lighten the mood.

"You gave us quite a scare." Liara pushed a strand of hair out of Shepard's face. "We…I thought I was going to lose you." She was fighting hard not to show Shepard her tears, but she knew she was failing miserably. "I felt lost when I thought I was going to lose you."

Shepard ignored her pain and squeezed Liara's hand, "Please, please don't cry." She tried to lift her arm to dry Liara's tears, but the movement brought stabbing pain that made her head spin. She pushed Liara's tears away with shaky fingers, "Hey, I'm alright. Please stop crying, okay? I can't bear to see you sad. It breaks my heart." She used all her strength to fight the pain, but darkness invaded her vision. As she fell back to sleep, she mumbled, "I love you, Liara."

Liara was relieved to see Shepard fall back to sleep because she couldn't stop her tears, and she didn't want to upset Shepard. The thought of almost losing the Commander had finally hit home for her, the weight of the pain and despair was unbearable to Liara. She held Shepard's hand, savoring the feeling of her warm skin and the way the human fingers wrap around her own, she wanted to remember this feeling and this moment. 'Wait, did she say she loves me?'

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Dr. Chakwas helped Shepard get off the bio bed and held her arm while she was trying to steady her feet. "You know if this weren't for Kaidan's parents, I would not have let you out of bed." She reluctantly let go of Shepard's arm. "You should really use a crutch to relief the burden on your lung." Shepard didn't crack jokes as usual and concentrated on walking without falling.

"I only have to go to the comm room, doc. And it's just pain. I deserve much worse." She took the first step and breathed in. She felt pain from inside, her lung was still healing, but she didn't stop and took second step.

Dr. Karen Chakwas walked in front of the young soldier and held her arms with a firm grip. "I'm going to tell you what I told Ashley. Kaidan's death wasn't your fault. The sooner you realize that the sooner you can pick up where he left off and finish this fight. Everyone on this ship lost a friend, not just you. The crew doesn't need to see their Commander sulk, they need a leader." Somehow the doctor's words made Shepard feel better. She straightened her back a little and the pain wasn't making her recoil again. The doctor carefully gave the young soldier a hug, "First you get better, and then you go and kick some ass." That actually made the soldier smile.

Inside of her cabin, Shepard heard noise coming from her bathroom. She walked gingerly toward the bathroom, and suddenly a cat jumped through the narrow opening of the door, then Liara slid the door open and chased after the cat. The sudden movements startled Shepard and her small gasp startled Liara. "Oh, goddess, Shepard! You startled me."

"I startled you? What are you doing in my cabin? And why is Mimi in my bathroom?"

"Dr. Chakwas said you'd talk to Kaidan's parents on the holo, I'm here to help you get dressed. But Mimi T'Soni jumped into one of your drawers and dragged something with her into the bathroom. I was just trying to get it back." As Liara explained, her eyes kept searching for the cat. When she saw Mimi coming out from under the sofa with the garment still wrapped around her head, Liara rushed to the cat but only caught the corner of the garment that was entangled around the cat's hind legs. She used her other hand trying to grab the cat, but failed. She stood up triumphantly and raised the garment over her head. "Got it!"

"Liara?" Shepard tried to hide a smile. "You are holding my bra."

"Oh!" The asari quickly lowered her arm and put the bra on the bed next to the uniform she'd prepared for Shepard to change into from her med bay gown. "I am trying to get everything out for you so that it is not necessary for you to bend down. Dr. Chakwas says you should not bend down right now…" The asari was trying to hide a blush by talking while looking for the rest of the clothing for the human.

It amused Shepard watching the asari blush while scrambling to find things that will only make her blush even more. "The lower drawer on your left." Shepard said, not moving to help.

Liara opened the drawer and paused for a moment. Before she finished blushing, the cat promptly jumped into the drawer and entangles herself again in the soft fabric. "No!" Liara quickly picked up the animal whose head was inside Shepard's panties. "Goddess! What am I going to do with you?" She untangled Shepard's underwear from the cat, and held the cat's face to hers. Mimi gave her a weak meow and licked Liara's nose once. "Urgh, fine! You are forgiven. But do not do it again!"

Shepard couldn't hold her smile anymore, "I'd take another bullet just to see you holding my underwear again." Liara's face had turned a dark color that Shepard had never seen before. "Come here." Shepard took Mimi from Liara and put her on the bed, and she took Liara's hands. "I don't know what I've done to deserve someone like you taking care of me."

Liara finally raised her eyes to meet Shepard's and let the luscious green capture her. Shepard leaned in to give her a kiss on the deep violet lips, and Liara had forgotten the embarrassing moment and lost herself in the human's warm breath. She dropped Shepard's panties on the floor and slid her arm to hold Shepard's waist and leaned into Shepard's lips. Neither knew how much time had passed but Shepard finally pulled back and took in a few deep breaths. The shooting pain when she breathed deeply made her recoil and she hung onto Liara's shoulder with her left hand and held her rib cage with right.

"Shepard!" Liara held both Shepard's arms supportively.

"I'm okay, Liara." Shepard gave Liara a weak smile and caught more breaths. Her grin told Liara that she should not feel sorry. "I guess I should get dressed." She sighed resignedly.

When the human was finally dressed in her formal blues, she already looked quite tired. Liara offered, "You want me to help you walk to the comm room?"

Shepard shook her head. "No, I don't want the crew see me like that. I can make it on my own."

"I'll come with you." Before the human protested, Liara added, "I won't get in the way. I will only be there for moral support."

Shepard didn't have the energy to argue, and the thought of having Liara nearby comforted her. Shepard walked slowly to the door, and when the door opened, her steps became normal with big strides. She stopped just outside of the comm room and turned back to Liara who was following her a few steps behind. "Liara, I don't want you to go in there." She had made sure that there was no reason for Liara to visit the comm room since they watched Benezia die on the screen.

Liara closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened them, she gave Shepard a smile. "I will be standing in the back while you talk." She hit the door button for the human.

Mr. and Mrs. Alenko had been waiting for the holocall when Shepard pressed the call button. The comm room's lights were dimmed, and the only overhead light was illuminating Shepard. Kaidan's parents' holo images look startlingly bright in the dark.

"Mr. and Mrs. Alenko, I'm…" Shepard cleared her throat and started to introduce herself.

"Commander Shepard." Kaidan's father spoke first. "We know who you are. We've seen you in the news and our son has been talking about what a thrill it is to serve with you."

"Thrill?" Kaidan's mother shouted at her husband. She stood up and her holo disappeared.

Kaidan's father disappeared for a moment then he came back, apologizing. "I'm sorry Commander."

Shepard put up a hand, "Please don't apologize." She pressed her right arm against her rib cage, which helped her breathe easier. "If I could trade places with Kaidan, I would."

"You shouldn't say that, Commander. You don't want to put your mother through this, trust me." Kaidan's father tilted his head a little, observing the young Commander. "I can see you're injured. I'm a doctor but I'm also an Alliance officer. Tell me, Commander. My son died the Devil Dog he always claimed to be."

"The biggest and the baddest one!" Shepard's voice betrayed her emotions. In the darkness of the room, she let her tears fall. They couldn't see her crying on the holo, it was safe to mourn Kaidan in darkness. "You know they pinned a medal on me for Elysium, but the real hero in that battle was a guy named Alan. He sacrificed himself so that we could get through the batarians' barricade. The crazy guy ran in front of the enemy line singing the Devil Dog song at the top of his lungs and distracted the batarians long enough for us to attack. Kaidan was the hero on Virmire. Without him we couldn't have completed our mission."

For the next hour, Shepard recounted how Kaidan died, how they shared the training experience on the moon, and their missions on the Normandy. The father listens to every tiny detail Shepard shared about his son and even laughed a few times when Shepard told him how Kaidan used his biotics to play tricks on Jenkins and the other Marines. Finally Shepard invited him to watch the memorial they had planned for Kaidan via ship's camera, and Kaidan's father accepted the invitation immediately.

When the holos were turned off and the room was quiet again, Shepard was still on her feet but she didn't have any energy left to move. Liara who had been waiting quietly and patiently in the shadows by the door took the human in her arms; somehow the tough soldier felt small and soft in her embrace. "We are almost there." She talked to the human softly.

"I know. I'll be okay, Liara." Leaning on Liara and feeling the warmth of her body helped Shepard regain some strength. They walked to the mess hall together and when they arrived at the crew deck in the elevator Ashley rounded the corner from the stairs. Shepard walked up to Ashley and straightened her back. She pointed at her own face, "I told you once that you have a free shot at me when I send people to their deaths, here's your free shot. I'll even let you take the nose if it makes you feel better." Shepard parted her legs and put her arms behind her. It hurt when she bent her arm back, but she didn't wince. Instead she closed her eyes and waited for the blow.

Liara nervously stared at Ashley who seemed to have recovered from her gunshot wound quite well, and the asari considered for a brief moment bringing up her biotics to protect Shepard.

Ashley struggled with words that she couldn't form exactly as she looked at Shepard's face. Finally she snorted at herself and put her arms around the Commander and whispered. "I will save my punches for those who deserve them, like Saren."

Liara let out her breath. Shepard opened her eyes as Ashley quickly pulled away and walked ahead into the mess hall. The mess hall was already packed. Someone had stacked the tables, and several Marines were sitting on top of the upper tables. Every crewmember that was not on essential duties was here including all the ground team and Dr. Chakwas. Still in her dress blues, Shepard walked over to where Pierce was sitting. She put a hand on the medic's shoulder and gave her a nod. Pierce opened the violin case and walked to the center of the mess hall. Joker released a hovercam that was now following in front of Pierce, and through the hovercam, Kaidan's parents looked on.

Pierce started on the strings tentative; without an orchestra behind her, she concentrated on the part that Kaidan loved, a soft and drawn out movement in Beethoven opus 61.

Pierce didn't learn about Kaidan's death until the evening after the Normandy escaped Virmire. There were so many wounded to take care of and everyone avoided the subject. Dr. Chakwas and Liara took turns watching over her while Pierce cried for Kaidan, and it was Liara who persuaded her to play the violin at Kaidan's memorial. It took all afternoon for Pierce to get her violin ready, as it'd been sitting in its small case since Elysium. She had so wanted to play for Kaidan before but couldn't bring herself to touch the instrument.

As the soft music turned to a Rondo dance, Pierce's wavy hair moved with the beat. She remembered this was the piece that Kaidan had played on his OSD and asked her to dance with him. When the violin stopped, Pierce opened her eyes. The memory of Kaidan's bright smile when they were dancing was lingering still, Pierce smiled at Kaidan's workstation and whispered. "Opus 61 for you, love!"

As Shepard took the center of the mess hall, she was speechless. She had so much to say about Kaidan, and looking at the hovercam, Shepard found words so empty. She felt as helpless as when Benezia died and a distraught asari was sobbing in her arms. What could you say that would make any difference to those who lost the most precious thing in their lives? Shepard swallowed as she swiped her gaze around the familiar faces. Everyone's eyes were on her. Shepard's eyes landed on Charlie; the young soldier was gripping his Marine training cap tightly, and his movement somehow reminded her of how Alan used to do the same thing at the training base. Tashia used to hide his cap to make him come over to their bunk and search for it. A faint smile appeared on Shepard's face as she remembered her old friends. She stood straighter and suddenly barked at the Marines in the room, "Order, Arms!" Every single Marine stood up, at attention. Shepard started first with a shaky voice, "We are the space Marines, with our rifles and shields, we travel the galaxy, we stand in the front and center, straightly and honorably." All Marines joined in and sang proudly in their strongest voices.

In her ear, Shepard could hear Kaidan's father singing with them over the comm. His voice sounded so much like Kaidan's. Shepard smiled and her voice grew stronger.

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews and PMs. All comments, reviews, suggestions and PMs are welcome.


	23. Chapter 23 Roller Derby

**In Love and War**

**Chapter Twenty-Three – Roller Derby**

The minute the Normandy docked at the Citadel, Shepard raised Anderson on her omni-tool. "Anderson, I'm here. When do I meet the Council?" Shepard asked eagerly.

"Shepard, the Council isn't going to meet for another two days."

"What? I thought we were getting a fleet ready to go after Saren. Aren't they ready on standby?" Shepard didn't like the sound of this. She'd ordered all personnel onboard to get ready, as soon as they docked and they'd restock some supplies, especially heavy ammo and then head to Ilos.

"Shepard, the council is planning on something but I don't know what. Udina might know, but he's not talking to me." Anderson sounded as frustrated as Shepard. "You just hang tight, I'm going to find out what the plan is. Keep your comm channel open."

"Anderson, we are wasting time."

"Shepard!" Anderson's voice was getting louder, "Don't you think I know that? I will get with Hackett and see if he can pull some strings. In the meantime, you have some down time, and that's an order. Oh Shepard, I think your mother is on the Citadel also."

"The Kilimanjaro is here?" Shepard was surprised to hear that because Hannah would have told her.

"No, Hannah is here for a meeting with Hackett. Go and see her and relax. Don't you worry, I will get you that meeting, and I will throw you back in the fire in no time." Anderson cut the communication.

Shepard stood there trying to think what to do, first she called the Alliance HQ on the Citadel to connect with her mother and made plans to meet up and then she wandered into the cargo hold to find most of her crew chatting, while others were playing cards with the Marines behind the Makos. She waved her crew over, "Apparently, my message didn't get through the Councilors' thick heads. We aren't meeting for another 2 days. But I think I pushed Anderson to get the meeting moved up. So the question is should I give shore leave to the crew, for tonight and tomorrow? We can get supplies loaded today. Shouldn't take too long. What do you guys think?"

"Shepard, you know as soon as we follow Saren to Ilos, it's going to be a bumpy ride, we might not get a chance to relax for a while." Garrus responded first.

"I hate politics!" Wrex waved his hand, "Well, guess we will have to drink some ale tonight."

"Wrex, do you think about anything other than drinking on shore leave?" Shepard chuckled a little.

"I know this bar that has some great Batarian Ale down at the Wards." Garrus chimed in.

"I hope they have something for quarians, although I don't hold much hope." Said Tali.

"Hey, you know what we should do?" Ashley was beaming with an idea. "We should go rollerblading!"

Shepard burst out laughing, "Chief Williams, are you a masochist?" All the non-human crewmembers had puzzled looks on their faces.

"Look who's talking, Skipper. Admit it, you just don't want to get your ass whooped!"

"Ashley Williams, you are on!" Shepard raised her arm and locked with Ashley's at the elbow.

"What is rollerblading? Is it some kind of weapon on wheels?" Liara finally asked on behalf of the others.

The humans laughed out loud, "You could say that." Ashley beat Shepard to respond, "You will see, and you will like it."

"OK, rollerblading first, and then we go with Garrus to the bar." Shepard made the announcement.

The rollerblading arena sat below the trendy bar Flux. It had initially catered to Alliance service members on shore leave, but it became popular with the civilians and even non-human races. When the Normandy crew arrived, the place was already crowded. Ashley had been to this place several times when she visited the Citadel on shore leave as a frontier Marine, and Shepard had been here even more often. They immediately got their favorite models of rollerblades while their friends were still at lost about this activity. Luckily the arena offered rollerblades for most races, so Shepard and Ashley helped Liara, Garrus and Tali pick out the best style and size of rollerblades to fit them. Unfortunately they didn't have anything that fitted a krogan, so Wrex found a fish tank to stare at.

Shepard got a small keg of beer and different kinds of drinks she knew her friends liked, and then she got into the ring with Ashley. As they warmed up, Liara commented, "I have not seen such a human sport before."

"I've seen it on some old human vids, I just didn't know what it was called until now. It doesn't look too hard. It's like on a hovercraft, you just have to propel it yourself." Garrus sipped his drink.

"Are you going to try it, Garrus?" Liara asked while staring at the rollerblades Shepard helped her pick out.

"It looks hard to do." Tali wasn't so sure if this was a good idea.

Just as the non-human crew trying to decide who was going to try and who wan't, a red light in the room turned on and a loudspeaker blazed out. "Now, the red light is on! You know what that means! It's Derby Time!" The crowd in the arena roared in response. And just like that, the mild rolling figures in the ring formed into several rows behind the painted lines on the floor, and Leon Russell's song "Queen of the Roller Derby" came on. As a loud beep sounded on the speaker, the skating floor suddenly became a battleground. Everyone was shouting including the rollers in the ring and the spectators in the arena. The place was thumping like thunder.

"This is barbaric!" Liara was shocked at what she was seeing.

"I see Shepard, she is in the lead!" Garrus was standing straight up straining his neck above the crowd.

Tali had jumped on a chair, "Not for long, Ashley is closing in fast! She is going to get her!"

"What?" Liara didn't believe what she was hearing. She followed Tali's lead and stood on her own chair, just in time to catch Ashley grabbing Shepard's shirt trying to drag her down. "By the Goddess, what is Ashley trying to do? Is she trying to hurt Shepard on purpose?"

"You see, the first row of rollers gets to go in the front, their goal is to get to the finish line first. The second row players are their opponents, their goal is to either drag down the first row players or toss them out of the ring, and the third row rollers are with the first row, their job is to prevent the second row players taking out the first row runners." Garrus seemed to know quite a bit about the game.

"What kind of vids do you watch, Garrus?" Tali wondered.

Liara had become nervous as she watched Ashley first trying to drag Shepard down by her shirt, then changed her tactics and tried to push Shepard out of the ring. But Shepard was too fast for her. She broke free of Ashley's grip, managed not to fall, but her teammate next to her started to fall, so Shepard grabbed her shirt to pull her back on her rollers. As her teammate regained her balance, she rammed into Ashley giving Shepard the precious few seconds to reach the finish line. With the first roller racing pass the finish line, the match was over. Each row of players got into a circle and chanted something loudly, then dispersed into the stands. Liara couldn't make out what they had shouted, but she was glad to see Shepard came back unharmed. Ashley got a small bruise on her arm from the bump, but it was nothing the Marine couldn't handle.

Both Shepard and Ashley were sweating and breathing heavily as they both went for the beer. After they cooled down for a few minutes, the speaker started playing regular music tracks again. Ashley stood up, "Come on, the rest of you put your blades on and follow me." Garrus immediately sat down and started to change into his rollerblades - he wanted to get into the action.

Tali was more reluctant. "Do I have to?"

"Yes, Tali!" Ashley would not take no for an answer. She helped Tali put her rollers on, and Tali slowly stood up, letting Ashley hold her hand and slowly roll her onto the floor. When she stood on one foot and used her other foot to push, Ashley matched her speed. In minutes, Tali was flying around the track like a pro. Shepard was whistling loudly and hooting at Tali's success as Ashley held her head with both hands in disbelieve. "Can you believe this ringer?!"

Garrus however was another story. As eager as he was to get on his rollerblades, he fell as soon as Ashley let go of his hands. Ashley tried to keep her laughter silent and helped him up. They repeated the process a few times, and now Tali came over and helped Ashley hold Garrus upright. Shepard was laughing so hard watching Garrus struggling that she spat her beer. Liara laughed with her, "At first, I thought it was very barbaric, now I see it can be fun, though it might not be for Garrus."

"Oh, trust me. He is having fun with two ladies holding his hands." Shepard wiped her face with her shirtsleeve. "Come on, your turn Liara. Nobody sits on the sideline in this arena."

"No, I do not care to try and fall on my face." Liara put up both hands. Shepard wouldn't hear it. She got down on her knees and started changing Liara's shoes. "Shepard, I have never done this before!" Liara protested but that didn't stop Shepard.

Shepard took off Liara's shoes and puts her feet in her lap, looking up at the nervous asari with a big smile, "It'll be fun, trust me!" Liara instinctively put her hands on Shepard's shoulders to steady herself while Shepard put on rollerblades for her.

Shepard held both Liara's hands as she slowly backed up, rolling Liara with her. "Pitch your body forward a little, anticipate the increasing speed." Shepard instructed. As Shepard increased speed with both hands still holding Liara's, Liara bent her knees and pushed off her own rollerblades instead of following Shepard. Seeing she was getting the hang of it, Shepard turned so that they could skate side by side. Shepard raised her arm for Liara to hold on to; but soon, Liara let her arm go and quickly matched Shepard's speed.

"Shepard, this is like flying. It is wonderful!" Liara shouted excitedly.

Shepard giggled as Liara let her arm go and raced pass her. She caught up with the asari as they passed Ashley and Tali who were still helping Garrus stay upright. Shepard pointed at Liara to her friends. "Look at Liara!"

Shepard held Liara's hand as they rolled at a pretty good speed. "This is fun, Shepard! Just like you said." Liara shouted, fighting the noise and loud music, with a smile spreading across her face. Shepard only smiled in return and said nothing.

When the music slowed again, Shepard skated in front of Liara and rolled her into a dance. "You're a natural. Is there anything you are not good at, Dr. T'Soni?" Shepard's voice oozed affection.

Liara was glad that she was hot and flushed already, easily hiding the fact that she was blushing at Shepard's words. "Maybe because I have a good teacher." She let Shepard lead her in a smooth pattern of movements she'd never done before.

"It's called a Waltz." Shepard explained.

"I like it." Liara was happy. She was happy to have Shepard's arms holding her and to move together as one.

Shepard had never seen Liara this glistening with happiness - she looked absolutely radiant. The human wanted to keep her girl this happy all the time. "You look so beautiful." Shepard stared at Liara's face. Liara chuckled. "What's so funny?" Shepard asked.

"You said that just before you passed out when I was taking you to Dr. Chakwas with my biotic hold."

Shepard remembered seeing dancing stars on Liara's face. "I did? What else did I say?"

"You said…" Liara felt blushing sensation once again, "You said you love me."

Shepard's feet stopped moving but her eyes were still on Liara's face. Shepard felt her own face burning. They both slowed down, Shepard rolled backward and led Liara out of the ring and into a dark corner. "Liara, you are very beautiful." Shepard whispered. They stood so closely that they could feel each other's breath and the heat radiating off each other's faces. Shepard stared at Liara's lips as she unconsciously licked her own, and she looked into Liara's eyes. She saw inviting deep ocean waves that were moving to engulf her. She couldn't resist anymore. As Shepard moved closer, Liara's eyes closed and her breath quickened in anticipation. Shepard lightly brushed her lips on the deep blue lips. They tasted good, and the kiss sent electricity through her body to her legs. Once again, she brushed her lips against Liara's.

Liara's back was against a wall, "thank the Goddess," or she would have fallen and not because she was wearing rollerblades. As Shepard's lips touched hers, Liara felt warmth and softness, the indescribable comfort that you wanted to fall into like the warm ocean near her home where she grew up. She felt light headed. When Shepard looked into her eyes, Liara took everything in. Desire, she had never seen the emotion this intensely in anyone's eyes before; it captivated her and triggered a response that her own body and mind couldn't control. When Shepard kissed her again lightly, it was all the invitation Liara needed. As if the second kiss had ignited something deep down, Liara felt a surge of warmth and the only thing this force was driving her to do was seek out the Commander's lips and held them with her lips, tasting their delicious flavors, feeling the heat as strong as her own.

Neither knew how long their near desperate kiss had lasted, but neither wanted to stop. They only parted briefly for air, but even that was too long a separation. As Liara wrapped her hand behind Shepard's head to pull her back, Shepard matched the move and put her hand on the back of Liars' neck. The action sent a tremor through the asari's body so strong that Shepard had to catch Liara from tripping on her rollerblades. "You alright?"

Liara was both embarrassed and aroused, she felt something inside of her awakening. "Shepard, you just touched one of my central nerve stimulus points. It acts like a switch to certain functions in our bodies as stimuli that inputs sensory signals to our brains to let us know that…" Stop talking Liara, her mind tried to stop her mouth. But it was Shepard who succeeded as she bent over and kissed the exact spot her hand had touched. Liara's voice broke, "Let us know that…that...Oh, Goddess." Her body was trembling now, she let out a small whimpering sound that she knew on a normal day she'd be embarrassed to death for. But Shepard's teasing was unrelenting, and Liara couldn't stop her body from reacting. She felt heat on the back of her neck and between her legs; she didn't know how much longer she could stand on them. "Shepard, I…I…want to…"

For Shepard's part, she had never found anyone so captivating. She could get lost in those deep blue eyes and lush blue lips forever, and that was before she discovered the fold behind the asari's neck. As she kissed the fold and tasted it with her tongue, she felt Liara's body shivering in her arms. She repeated the act in different directions and with more intensity, and the asari was leaning into her for support. This was addictive; Shepard smiled at her own thoughts. _I wanted to do this forever, please let me do this forever._

"My cabin?" Shepard suggested.

"Yes, please." Thank the Goddess, I cannot stand up much long, Liara didn't say it, but she was still leaning on Shepard.

Shepard gently held her for a moment and leaned her against the wall, "Be right back with our shoes, promise me you won't go anywhere."

Liara chuckled with a snort, "I promise."

Shepard rolled toward the table where her friends were sharing drinks and wondering where Shepard and Liara had gone. Ashley saw Shepard coming in fast, "Skipper, ready for round two?"

Shepard turned her body and put the breaks on her rollerblades expertly and went straight for the shoes. "Ash, I think Tali is ready to take you on. Liara and I have a change of plans." She found what she was looking for, and she reached inside her pocket and took out credit chits and handed them to Garrus. "You are in charge of the bar operation. You are authorized to utilize all credits on these and your job is to make sure you all have fun but everyone makes it back safely, any questions?"

"Shepard, you can trust me on this." Garrus grinned.

After Shepard said goodbye to everyone, Ashley laughed and slapped Garrus on his arm knowingly, "Change of plans my ass!"

Garrus twitched his mandibles and downed another shot, "About time these two got a clue."

Wrex nodded in agreement, "She'd make a worthy mate for Shepard. Are we going to this bar then?"

Tali quickly grabbed Ashley, "Just one more game." And dragged Ashley into the ring with her.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Shepard woke up next morning naked in bed. Before she started to wonder why she was sleeping without her usual tank top and boxers she felt a warm hand around her waist, and she remembered the amazing night with the asari.

Their first union was nothing like she had expected. Liara had corrected her when she said she wanted to "meld" with her. "This is much more than linking of two minds. A true union is something else completely." Liara told her. Shepard had wanted to keep exploring the folds that had given the asari so much trouble standing in the arena, but when Liara stripped every piece of clothing off, Shepard's mind changed focus and she redirected her mouth elsewhere. As she explored the landscape of the asari's body, Liara's moans provided encouragement.

"So many shades of blue," Shepard thought to herself as she dipped her tongue to an indigo nipple. She raised her other hand to the asari's mouth and teased her lips open with her thumb. Liara slowly took the Commander's thumb in and swirled her tongue around it. Shepard moved her hand to encircle Liara's breast, rubbing that thumb across the indigo hardness.

"Oh Shepard, oh Goddess!" Liara whispered as she arched her back off the bed. The Commander hummed her approval and started her southward journey. She stopped for a moment and her hot breath set the asari's thigh muscles rippling. "A blue iris," Shepard thought as she reached her final destination.

The asari's body started to shudder under her teasing tongue, as her moans deepened. Liara felt the overwhelming desire to enter Shepard's mind as her body was losing control. "I need…" She barely waited for Shepard to nod her agreement, "Embrace eternity!" The urgent rush of two presences in both of their minds almost sent Liara over the edge, but she bit down her lip so that she could share the sensation with Shepard. As she felt Shepard's body shuddering under her fingers, she reached out. "I want you!" She could sense the strong pulse within Shepard that was increasing in intensity and the only thing stopping it from erupting was her mind. "Let it go."

"Together."

"Together."

When the eruption came, they screamed in unison as their bodies quaked together. Shepard never felt like this before, and by the time Liara's mind slowly pulled away from her own, she immediately felt the empty space it had left. When she could move her head again, she looked over at Liara lying next to her. The asari had a slight glow around her body and she was panting as hard as Shepard was. Did she use her biotics? Shepard wondered. Liara finally recovered enough to prop herself up on one elbow, "By the Goddess, I have never felt like that before. That was incredible!"

Shepard had to smile because Liara spoke the same words in her own mind. She wondered if this was how minds worked after a true union. "I didn't want it to end." Shepard responded. "Now I understand why the asari are into this, it's very addictive."

Liara laughed whole-heartedly. "Shepard, you should know by now that not every sexual encounter we have is a true union."

Shepard smiled back, "I know, I just wanted to hear you say it." Liara pushed Shepard's head as punishment, but grabbed her hair and pulled her back immediately. "Did I hear you say this is addictive? Ready for round two?"

Morning had come too soon for Shepard; she was still sleepy. But the desk chrono alarm went off and woke them both up. "Oh, no! I'm so late!" Shepard jumped out of bed, and started rummaging through her closet and put on anything she could get her hands on.

Liara was sitting in bed puzzled by the sudden action from her partner. "You are late for what, Shepard?"

Shepard hopped on one foot to get her sock on and pulled the cover to reveal the naked asari. "Get out of bed, darling. We are meeting my mother for breakfast." She turned to get her boots near the bathroom.

Liara got out of bed and she stared at Shepard, "What? You did not mention that we were meeting your mother today."

Shepard sat in her desk chair lacing her boots. "Well, you weren't, but I was. I made plans with my mom to have breakfast this morning. You're coming with me."

Meeting Shepard's mother? Liara was getting nervous all of a sudden. _What do I say to her? Does she even like asari? I hope no one from my species has offended her before! Does she know about my and Shepard's union? No, of course not, it just happened. Calm down, Liara! Oh, Goddess._

"Shepard, are you sure?" Liara made no move and still stared at Shepard.

"Yes, I'm sure. Come on."

"But what if I am not ready?" Liara was unsure.

"Of course you're not ready! You are naked! You think I want my mother to see you naked?" Shepard walked over to Liara.

Liara hit Shepard's shoulder lightly and laughed. "Shepard! I will get you for that!" Liara started to look for her own clothes. "Well, if you are certain. Do you have any advice on what I should say to her? I am open to suggestions."

"My advice is to put some clothes on, and do it fast, cause we are really, really late." Shepard helped Liara gather up the clothes she had shed all over the floor last night while their lips were locked tightly. "Just be yourself, Liara. She will love you, trust me."

As the pair approached the restaurant Hannah suggested the day before, Shepard saw her mother waiting outside. She let go of Liara's hand and ran to give Hannah a big bear hug, "Sorry we are late, mom!" Hannah was surprised by her daughter's incredibly good mood until she saw Liara walking quickly to catch up. It's "We" now, Hannah thought with even a bigger smile. "Mom, let me introduce you to Dr. Liara T'Soni." Shepard picked up Liara's hand and stood side by side with her in front of Hannah, "Liara, this is my mother, Commander Hannah Shepard."

Liara extendded a hand to Hannah, "Commander Shepard, I would like to thank you for buying clothes for me before we even met. That was very kind of you." Liara sounded a little nervous.

"Sweetheart, please call me Hannah. It's confusing when you have two Commander Shepards in the family." Hannah ignored Liara's hand and gave her a motherly hug. She linked arms with both her daughter and Liara, walking into the restaurant with a big grin on her face.

"Mom, why are we eating here? I thought you always liked our usual place." Shepard asked.

"Someone insisted it that we ate here. You will see, Honey." As the trio settled in a booth, Shepard saw Lt. Zabaleta walking toward them with a water pitcher. Zabaleta had been doing very well with his treatment at the Alliance vet center, and as a part of the recovery process, he got a job at the restaurant to keep a daily routine. When Hannah called him after she came to the Citadel to check up on him, he immediately invited them to the restaurant so that he could say thanks to both the mother and the daughter.

Hannah smiled at her daughter who was talking quietly with Zabaleta about the treatment at the vet center, and then she looked at Liara. "So did the clothes fit alright, Liara? I only had my daughter's description of you to go on for the size. My baby grew up on military ships and shopping for civilian clothing isn't something she's ever mastered. So I buy all her civvies for her."

"Yes, they fit perfectly. Shepard must have described my size very precisely." That didn't come out right. Liara blushed a little and folded her hands on the table.

Hannah smiled when she saw Liara blushing while nervously staring at her own hands on the table. "She's been telling me all about you, Liara." Hannah was trying to ease Liara's tension. "I'd like to think that I know my child very well, and I know that she cares for you deeply." Hannah suppressed the urge to ask about their plans for the future, how the asari felt about reproducing with a human, and how many grandbabies should she be expecting… She had to stop that train of thought- why did she think of grandbabies whenever her daughter even only kissed someone? But from the change in her daughter's demeanor Hannah guessed they did more than just kissing. She must have reached that age, the age when she dreamed of holding a bunch of grandbabies, Hannah thought.

"I won't show you baby holos to embarrass my child, she has copies of all of them. But you should work on her to show you some of those. They are very cute." Her mother's pride was barely hidden.

"I will gladly take on that challenge." Liara laughed, as Hannah's words eased her nervousness. She couldn't help but to think how different Hannah was from her own mother. She knew Benezia loved her, but in a very different way. Benezia would have never gone shopping for Liara's friends she'd never met, nor offer to share Liara's baby holos with someone she met for the first time. She wondered how Hannah accepted her so easily and showed her acceptance so openly, but she saw where Shepard's trusting and openness had stemmed from. As they exchanged stories of Shepard, Liara was a bit saddened that she had never had a relationship this close with her own mother after she had grown up.

Hannah picked up the change in Liara's expression and she felt for the young maiden. "Now that I have your size memorized, every time I shop for my daughter I will keep an eye out for anything that might look good on you, Liara. I hope you won't mind." She patted Liara's folding hands lightly, "If you need anything else, promise me you will call." She gave Liara's hands a warm squeeze to show that she meant it.

Shepard finished talking with Lt. Zabaleta and she turned and sat down to join her mother and Liara. "You guys seem to be having a good time chatting. Were you gossiping about me? Anything embarrassing?" She smiled brightly.

"Baby holos…" Liara didn't finish her sentence, but she looked at Shepard with a coy smile.

"Mom, you didn't!" Shepard faked a shocked look. "Do you happen to have my baby holos on your or do you actually carry them with you everywhere?"

"I carry them with me everywhere, Honey." Hannah was enjoying teasing her daughter in front of her mate. "Especially after you became a SPECTRE, I added some holos from when you were really young. You never know when Emily Wong might ask me for an exclusive."

The entire table laughed loudly with audible protect from Shepard. Liara laughed so hard that she bumped her head on Shepard's shoulder, and Shepard captured her head and didn't let go. "As your commanding officer, I demand you purge the images of me before the age of 10, wait, before 16 from your mind!" She laughed as she planted a light kiss on Liara's head and let her go.

"Actually, your mother respects your privacy. She did not show me anything. But I promise you I will not be so kind." Liara said in between laughs.

Hannah watched the interaction between the young pair. She had never seen her daughter this relaxed and happy, she couldn't help but think they'd make a good couple.

Shepard asked Hannah, "Mom, could you get me some undershirts? Liara doesn't like me in tank tops."

Liara stopped her laughter and looked at Shepard, surprised. "What gives you that idea?"

"Well, the first time you saw me in a tank top, you asked me to put some clothes on."

"Oh, Goddess!" Liara covered her face with her hands. "That was because your exposed skin and arms distracted me to the point I could not think and hold a conversation."

"Liara!" Shepard's face turned bright red and she gave Liara a look and then she looked at her mother quickly.

"Sorry, I…" Liara had joined Shepard in blushing.

Shepard bumped her in her elbow, "So we're okay with tank tops then?" Liara could only nod without looking up at either Commander. Hannah couldn't help herself and burst out laughing.

When the laughter died down a little, Liara leaned into the table. "Hannah, I do have a question that no one else has been able to answer."

"What's that, my dear?" Hannah paid her full attention to the asari.

"Who taught Shepard how to drive?" Liara earned a big slap on her back for that question.

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**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews and PMs. All comments, reviews, suggestions and PMs are welcome.


	24. Chapter 24 The End Is Near

**In Love and War**

**Chapter Twenty-Four – The End Is Near**

After having a pleasant breakfast with Hannah, Shepard and Liara took their separate tasks to different parts of the Citadel. Liara planned to meet with some of her asari contacts to spread the news about Benezia's death while Shepard visited with Anderson.

In the large office with bare walls save for a giant monitor, Anderson was pacing while eagerly awaiting Shepard's arrival. When the Commander showed up at the door, Anderson walked to her hurriedly. "Shepard, just in time. Come with me."

"What's going on, Anderson?" Shepard jogged a couple of steps to catch up with her old captain.

"We found a lead for the breach I had in my office. Armondo Bailey is holding him down at the Wards. He's waiting for us to interrogate him." Anderson tapped on his omni-tool and a transport car flew in.

Inside a dark apartment in the Zakera Ward, Armondo Bailey waited for Anderson's arrival. He was out of his C-Sec uniform but his crew cut and straight shoulders gave him away as an ex-soldier. He talked unhurried, "We're ready to proceed. He's all hooked up." He took the Alliance Captain and the Commander through a hallway and into a large master bedroom without any furniture. A single metal chair wired to a large orange power generator was bolted to the floor in the center of the room, and a human male was sitting in it with his arms and feet cuffed to the chair.

"Wait, you're going to torture him?" Shepard looked at Anderson.

"You think that will make me talk?" Before Anderson answered, the man in the chair snarled at his would-be tormentors. "You're all traitors to humanity! We'll get the aliens, the blue bitch, the mandible chomper and everybody else!"

Hearing the threat, Shepard turned to face the man. "Did you help kidnap the asari from the Normandy?"

"Wouldn't you want to know?" The man in the chair leaned forward as much as he could under the restraints and looked straight at Shepard. "Our enemies aren't safe anywhere. Do you know where your blue bitch is right now?" His menacing smile gave Shepard pause; perhaps she shouldn't have let Liara be alone today on the Citadel.

"Why would you want to hurt innocent people?" Shepard tried to reason with the man.

"Innocent? You call the daughter of a traitor who helped a rogue turian Spectre wipe out human colonies innocent? Where's your loyalty to your own people, Commander? What about the innocent people died on Eden Prime? Is it wrong to want a tooth for a tooth?" The man spat as he shouted. "My boss only wanted to kidnap the blue bitch. If it were up to me, I'd have ended her the minute I saw her blue face." If that didn't set Shepard's temper on fire, what he said next ignited the flame. "After I repeatedly fuck her blue ass." The man's menacing snarl turned into nervous laughter.

Armondo Bailey had seen enough of this. Without changing his cool and collected expression, he gave his men a nod and the two men standing by the power generator flipped the switch. A visible energy current surged through the wires and zapped the metal chair. The man in the chair jumped violently and screamed. "Who hired you to kidnap the asari?" Bailey asked with a slow but threatening voice.

"You'll have to kill me first." The man's face no longer had that snarly cocky look. His features were now cold and determined. "I'll die a hero!"

Another jolt, another scream.

Bailey walked over to the man and took out a syringe and jabbed it into the man's neck. Shepard watched Bailey perform his tasks coolly with calculated steps. Her heart was racing when she thought about the man's words, his threats against Liara. She had to look away from the figure in the chair for a minute to stop herself from hitting him, but she clenched her fists tightly. Shepard didn't know exactly what Bailey had injected him with, but she knew what the effect the drugs had. She'd seen it in her past missions with N7.

After one more jolt she asked, "We heard from one of the kidnappers that the Terra Firma party hired them. They're all dead cause I killed them. But you have a chance to make it out alive. Just tell us who's your boss."

The man in the chair had lowered his head as the drugs was taking effect. He didn't raise his head but his eyes were staring at Shepard. "You think Terra Firm is the only one who wants the aliens gone?" He started to laugh, but stopped and winced at the pain he was obviously experiencing. "You think we can't talk to the dead? You think we'll allow aliens infiltrate the Alliance's most famous ship? You're dead wrong! You can't stop us!"

Shepard resisted the urge to call Liara immediately. Another jolt. The man had stopped making threats and started to murmur unintelligible things to himself. Bailey walked to the chair and checked on the captive. "He's ready to talk." Then he backed up. Shepard noticed the change in the man's eyes as they were racing yet not focused on anything in particular. "He can sense his end is near, and every fear becomes more…intensified when you can sense your own end." Bailey stated the fact as if reading from a manual. "The drugs I injected him with give the illusion of his own end and it also opens him up. It's working."

"Did Terra Firma hire the kidnappers?" Shepard asked again.

"No." The captive started to talk.

"Did Terra Firma hack into Captain Anderson's office?"

"No."

"Who did?"

"Cerberus."

Shepard walked closer to the chair. "Are they still trying to hurt my crew?"

"Yes. They'll never stop their actions."

"What actions?" Shepard asked.

"Hold the blue bitch as bargaining chip to get the aliens off the Normandy or take her out to set an example." The man finally closed his eyes and his head dropped.

Bailey gave another nod to his men. They turned off the generator. He turned to the Captain, "He'll be out for a bit. I'll squeeze him more after he wakes up. Does this give you what you need?"

Anderson nodded and took Shepard outside. "We have some intel on Cerberus and they worry me more than those idiots from Terra Firma. They definitely had help from inside to get through the security in the embassy wing. I'm going to have Pallin scrub the security footage again."

"Do you suspect anybody in particular?" Shepard knew how Anderson's mind worked; he suspected Udina.

"Shepard, let's not rush to judgment and keep this quiet. This might be bigger than we know and we don't know all those who are involved. Make sure your crew is safe and get ready for the meeting with the Council."

As soon as she left Anderson, Shepard called Liara on her comm but didn't get any answer. She called Garrus and Tali, and reached them immediately. She knew Wrex was meeting with his usual contacts on the Citadel for more intel as he always did. That only left Liara's unanswered call. Shepard called Garrus again, "Garrus, the threat against Liara might not be over. I want you to get the ground crew and a squad of Marines meet me at the Citadel Tower before the Council meeting."

"I thought we killed the bastards near Omega." Garrus replied. "Don't you worry, Shepard, I've got the best upgrade installed on my sniper rifle. We'll be there!"

After talking to Garrus, Shepard tried to raise Liara on her comm again, but still didn't an answer. Her stomach sunk and tried to think who else she could call to track down Liara while she quickened her steps toward the terrace by the lake on the Presidium where she and Liara planned to meet up. There was no Liara in sight and she was late.

Shit!

Just as Shepard was about to call Garrus to organize a search, Liara walked out of the elevator looking a little grumpy. Shepard rushed to the asari's side, "Are you alright?"

"Not really. I have spent the last hour explaining to a bunch young asari why Benezia did what she did and who the Reapers are. Half of them were too hung over to pay attention." Liara kept walking toward the terrace.

"I called you, twice!" Shepard matched her steps.

"So?" Liara asked absentmindedly.

"Why didn't you answer your goddamn comm?" Shepard let out her frustration.

"What? Why are you yelling at me?" Hearing Shepard's raised voice, Liara stopped in her tracks, confused. "I was in the waiting room to see the Grand Matriarch. And it would be unwise to take calls while asking for an audience."

Shepard sat down on a bench and tried to calm herself down. _She's okay. Nothing bad happened to her._ She saw Liara sit down next to her with a quizzical look. "I'm sorry. I was worried about you when I couldn't raise you on the comm. I didn't mean to yell."

Shepard seldom got this rattled, and her nervousness was making Liara uneasy. "Why are you so worried? Did Anderson tell you anything useful?"

"I shouldn't have let you walk alone on the Citadel. The threat against you might not be over." Shepard took a deep breath, "We don't know all the facts yet, so you're sticking with me while we're off the ship."

"They still want to kidnap me? Who is doing this?" Liara frowned.

"They might. Cerberus is behind all this."

"The ones who killed Admiral Kahoku?" Liara was on that mission with Shepard and saw what Cerberus did to the Alliance Admiral who asked questions he shouldn't have.

"The same group." Shepard's face darkened. Looking at Liara's worried face, she changed the subject. "How were your meetings with your asari contacts?"

Liara put her hand on her forehead, "I met with these supposed influential asari. They seem to think about nothing but parties and who to fuck, yet they have the ears and minds of powerful Matriarchs and politicians." Liara lowered her head in exasperation. "I do wonder if mother was right about my wasting time with research and studies."

"Instead of what? Partying with these so called influential asari?"

"No, I cannot imagine myself doing such wasteful things with my time." Liara shook her head as if she was disappointed with her inability to attend idle parties and pointless functions.

Shepard took Liara's hands. "Liara, you are the daughter of a powerful Matriarch, an extremely accomplished archeologist, a very bad ass biotic and not to mention you have very influential friends of your own. How could you compare yourself to those sorry spoiled brats who never knew real danger in their lives and never dedicated themselves to anything other than clubbing and sleeping around? How could you ever doubt that you will become someone incredibly powerful, incredibly intelligent, and just a plain old incredible person when you have such a pedigree and personal drive?" Shepard looked into Liara's eye, her voice full of adoration yet she knew she was speaking the truth. "If I didn't know you this well, I would want to know you more. Even when I do know you well, I still want to know more about you." Shepard had to stop to catch her breath.

Liara looked back at Shepard, the confidence and trust the human had shown her still took Liara's breath away. "How come I spent all day getting turned down by everyone and doubted I was ever good at anything, and five minutes with you and I feel like I can take on the entire galaxy?" Liara amazed.

"Well, that's just another reason you'd better stick with me." Shepard put her arm around Liara.

"I would never leave you, Commander." Liara leaned into Shepard. "You cannot make me leave you even if you tried."

"Not even if I try to beat you away with a stick?" Shepard teased her.

Liara laughed out loud, "Not even then." Shepard loved making Liara laugh, and she loved to watch Liara's face opening like a blue flower.

"Shepard, must you stare at me every time I laugh?" Liara teased her back.

"Well, I tried telling myself not to stare, 'don't stare like an idiot', but I just can't help it." Shepard leaned in and gave Liara a kiss. "Come on, we need to prepare for the meeting with the Council."

xxxxxxxxx

Shepard briefly considered calling a private meeting with Councilor Tevos since her meeting with the Council would involve Benezia, but instead she called Emily Wong. "I have an important meeting with the Council that I think you will want to cover with your hovercam."

The reporter knew every time Shepard gave her something it was always worth paying attention to. "Send me the details, Commander. I will be there."

Shepard sent the details with her omni-tool. "If you can round up some spectators, I guarantee you will get better effect for your footage."

Shepard met up with her team at the bottom of the stairs near the Citadel Tower and gave instructions. "Garrus, you find a spot where you have a full view of the stands and watch my signal. All spotters need to talk to Garrus directly. I want two Marines watching Garrus' back while he's watching ours." Garrus took off with two soldiers. "Tali, can you put Chiktikka in stealth mode for an hour or so? I want her to monitor any sniper weapon heat signature. Take two Marines to watch your back." Tali nodded and moved to her position.

Wrex had already picked a few Marines, "Shepard, I know what I have to do. We'll block all the exits and we'll get them if anyone tries to hurt us."

Ashley directed two Marines to stand by either side of the stairs that led to the podium and she followed Shepard and Liara. "Skipper, I've got your back!"

When everything was set, Shepard turned her attention to Liara. "Liara, you don't have to be here if you don't want to. I feel that it's your right to witness this but I'm also worried that it might cause you pain." Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Liara only squeezed Shepard's hand quickly and gave her a reassuring smile.

"As my report shows that Matriarch Benezia sacrificed herself to take down the Geth ships and save the Normandy. I would like to record the Battle Above Noveria into the Citadel Archives so that the future generations can remember the Matriarch for her effort against this great threat." Shepard spoke loudly.

As she scanned the stands, Shepard was surprised to see that they were packed with layers upon layers of spectators. Emily Wong couldn't have rounded up this many people. As her gaze landed on the second floor on the right, she noticed a large contingent of asari in dark formal dresses. There were enough of them to almost fill the entire wing. Liara whispered to her, "The Grand Matriarch and her entourage. I mentioned this meeting to her."

Shepard looked at the second floor across the asari and she saw Anderson in the stands and two turian C-Sec officers with him. He gave Shepard a nod to let her know that he was here to provide additional security. Shepard nodded her thanks to Anderson. Udina was standing next to Shepard's crew on the podium; when he heard what Shepard had to say about Benezia, he turned to look at the Commander and his face started to get pastier.

Tevos didn't initiate questions first and that didn't surprise Shepard. She suspected Tevos would want to appear as neutral as possible on this matter. The turian Councilor spoke first, "Commander, your report mentioned that the Matriarch intended to sway Saren to do good, but she was indoctrinated by a Reaper ship to aid Saren, and under yours and her former acolyte's influence, she switched sides again to aid you in the end. Forgive me, but do you truly believe her actions were courageous, as you put it in the report, and her motivations honorable, or that she saw the benefit of switching sides again?"

"Councilor Sparatus, let me ask you these questions. Within the time we've been standing here having this chat, Matriarch Benezia not only managed to give us the location of the Mu Relay and fight off the incredible hold of the Reaper's indoctrination, but she also came up with a plan to destroy three Geth warships with only a few acolytes by her side and a ship full of enemies." Shepard paused for a moment, waiting for all reporters' hovercams to aim in her direction. "And when both of our ships were too damaged to win the fight, she flew her ship into the final geth battleship and sacrificed her life to save all of us. What would you call a dedicated leader who died in the same selfless way as she lived, died while taking out four Geth warships in one fell swoop? Do you not call her courageous? Can anyone else in this room claim they have achieved a feat of this caliber?" Shepard stopped again and listened to the murmurs from the spectators. In the crowd, she saw Emily Wong busily talking to her microphone.

The salarian councilor picked up where Sparatus left off as the turian Councilor was twitching his mouth but no sound came out. "What about her motivations, Shepard?"

"Councilors, I had a feeling that you might doubt my words. I will let Dr. Liara T'Soni, Matriarch Benezia's daughter share some battle holos our ship captured. See for yourselves." Shepard gave Liara a nod, and the asari moved forward and tapped on her omni-tool. The voice of Matriarch Benezia filled the hall while her holo flickered on the large screen on the wall.

- "Shepard, our batteries are depleted and forward guns are out. It seems the Geth ship is following the Normandy. I want you to lead it to us, and clear out the path."

-"No, our ship is damaged, we are needed to keep it on course and ensure full impact, we only get one chance."

As the battle scenes played out on the big screen in the great hall while the huge crowd watched and hovercams captured everything, Shepard scanned the room again. In the corner of her eye, she saw a flickering of red laser light. She turned toward the light and a cloaked figure was barely visible. It was holding a gun with an unusually long barrel. Years of experience told her that was an ultra-muted, high powered and long-range sniper rifle, and she traced the red laser to see that it was pointing at Liara.

Shepard quickly stepped in front of Liara, blocking the view of the sniper with her own body, and she tapped out code on her ear to the team as she looked at the direction of the sniper. She saw both Tali and Wrex moving toward the cloaked figure and Garrus' sniper laser was already pointing at the target. As Liara finished her holo presentation, she stepped back. Shepard let out a long held breath and tapped on her own omni-tool.

"I've served with the System Alliance for many years and now I serve the Council. I was brought up to believe in honor and self sacrifice for the greater good. I can tell you without a hesitation or an ounce of doubt, the final actions of Matriarch Benezia were most courageous and most honorable. And these are her final words to me, let it be her last teachings to all of us."

-"Shepard, you must unite everyone in the galaxy. Sovereign will not be the last vanguard the Reapers send. Your battles ahead will not result in victory if you stand alone. I've spent my entire life trying to unite everyone in the galaxy for a better future for all of us…"

With the vid frozen on her last words, the Matriarch's voice rang through the great hall. Shepard could see people nodding their heads in the crowd and she also saw tears running down Liara's face. She knew they were not from sadness but from the enormous pride she felt for her mother.

Councilor Tevos finally spoke up, "Commander, I think we have seen enough of your truthful report and very compelling argument. Let the Citadel Archives show that Matriarch Benezia died a hero of the galaxy. May she be remembered for her dedication as our leader, her courage in self sacrifice and her wisdom that has and will guide us to a better future." She looked at her peers, and they nodded. "This meeting is adjourned."

Shepard watched the Councilors leave, she turned to the human Ambassador, "What about the fleet to go after Saren? We haven't discussed that."

"Well, that's been taken care of, Shepard." Udina started to leave the podium hurriedly.

"Wait a minute, who's taking care of it? What's been done?" Shepard quickly followed the human politician.

"We have different ships from joint intergalactic fleet patrolling the Relays and we're sending turian ships to create a blockade. If Saren dares to come, we will catch them the minute they show up."

"That's not good enough!" Shepard stepped in front of the ambassador.

Ashley spoke angrily, "You bastard! You sold us out, didn't you?"

Udina's face actually turned from its usual pasty color to purple, "How dare you speak to me like that? Commander, I strongly suggest that you reprimand your crewmember who doesn't seem to understand the chain of command!"

Shepard stood next to Ashley, "Ambassador, do you understand what's at stake here? Or are you too busy worrying about your own political career?"

"That's it! I'm grounding the Normandy! You're not going to even enjoy ripping Saren's ship apart when it comes through the Relay!" He turned from the Normandy crew and quickly made his escape.

Shepard nodded at Tali. The quarian released her cloaked drone to follow the human ambassador. Tali turned on her comm through her omni-tool so that everyone could hear the audio. Udina was on a call, "I don't care if Shepard is or isn't in the fight. I won't throw away my career as the first human Councilor before it even begins." He was talking to someone on his comm. "I served humanity plenty. Now it's time I take something for my hard work. I'm grounding the Normandy whether you like it or not. And where was your assassin today?"

Shepard looked at Tali, "Can you trace the call and see who's talking to Udina?"

Tali tapped on her omni-tool. "I can, but it goes to a hub. Anyone can tap into the hub to hijack lines. So it's useless even if I trace where the call is from."

Even though the assassination attempt was foiled, Shepard still felt exposed standing there. She called everyone to meet back at the ship, even when it was grounded; it was still safer for her crew, for Liara. While Ashley was still cursing Udina, Tali and Liara silently followed behind the two human soldiers.

As the elevator finally reached its destination, the team saw Pierce waiting outside of the elevator door. The medic spoke to the Commander immediately, "Captain Anderson is waiting for you by the airlock. What's going on? They have locked down the Normandy. I thought we were going after Saren."

"Anderson is here?" Shepard jogged to the airlock to meet Anderson. "Sir, what's the situation? I know you aren't here to congratulate us for getting grounded."

Tali followed Shepard closely, "Adams, the engineer team and I worked all through the night, as you instructed. We got everything done, just waiting for your orders, Shepard. But how are we going to go anywhere with the docking clamps locked down?"

Anderson didn't want to waste any time. "I'm going to take some actions at around 2100 tonight. Get your crew all aboard by then, and wait for my signal."

"What are you going to do?" Shepard asked eagerly.

"I'm not a man who sits around waiting for death to catch me in the ass. Lucky for us, the Council didn't issue the lockdown order, Udina did. I will only have to change his mind." Anderson sounded angry.

"His mind seemed pretty made up from what we saw today, that son of bitch!" Ashley chimed in.

"There are ways to change his mind, and I know them all. Leave it to me, just be ready." Anderson looked straight at Shepard as though he was issuing an order.

Shepard understood what Anderson was thinking. "Just be careful, sir. And thanks! We won't let you down."

"I have confidence in you, Shepard, in all of you! I've also loaded up some special provisions and booze, you and the crew have been through a lot and only God knows what's waiting on the other side of the Mu Relay. You deserve it." Before Anderson took off, he told Shepard. "Bailey has the assassin. He'll make her talk. I've asked him to contact you directly with any intel he gathers as it concerns your crew."

Before long, Armondo Bailey called Shepard via her personal comm. "Commander, Captain Anderson told me to contact you here. I wanted to let you know that the woman with cloaking armor and an unusual sniper rifle is dead."

"Dead? How?"

"Well, it seems that her brain was implanted with a tiny bomb. We're still looking into it, but it wasn't clear whether she had detonated it herself or someone else did it remotely. I'm sorry, Commander. This is a dead end." For the first time, Bailey's voice had some emotion and Shepard could tell he was disappointed.

Shepard fell on to her bed and took a long breath. It'd been a long day and it was far from over. The day's events had brought disquiet to her tranquil mind and elated mood after spending her first night with the amazing asari. The fresh intel renewed her fear for Liara's safety and after last night's change in their relationship, that fear had intensified. Shepard sighed tiredly – the assassin was dead and the only person who might know who sent the killer was the man who grounded her ship. There was only one thing they needed to do now.

They had to leave the Citadel!

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**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews and PMs. All comments, reviews, suggestions and PMs are welcome.


	25. Chapter 25 Banquet and Dads

**In Love and War**

**Chapter Twenty-Five – Banquet and Dads**

Before 2100, Shepard and her crew piled into the cockpit waiting for Anderson's signal. Joker nervously scratched his short beard, "Come on, come on. Turn green for me, baby!" Shepard could see a faint perspiration line forming on his forehead, and she wasn't sure if it was from so many people crowding him or his own nervousness.

Garrus huffed standing by the entrance of the cockpit, "They just don't this, Shepard! Not sending a fleet is one thing, but grounding a Spectre's ship? Never happened before."

"Yeah, that's because Udina never happened before." Ashley was still not letting it go.

2100 on the dot, the light turned green. Joker promptly hit the button to release the docking clamps, earning a round of cheers from the people behind him.

Speeding toward Ilos, the Normandy was bustling with activities of preparation. Shepard ran through every department to talk with everyone about their tasks and made plans for the final confrontation with Saren. She also picked a few people to add to the cooking detail. Anderson's provisions had turned out to be fresh meat, vegetables, fruits and all sorts of great food items to make a banquet with. Shepard thanked Anderson silently, and she knew that the Captain still considered the Normandy's crew his as much as Shepard's. When everything was set in motion, Shepard walked to the medical lab to find Liara. The med bay was buzzing with activities as Dr. Chakwas directed Pierce and the whole medical team to pack field packs and prep the med bay surgical equipment for a major battle.

Shepard found Liara by her terminal busily typing something. "Hey, Liara. How are you doing?" Shepard walked over and sat next to Liara.

Liara quickly finished her typing and paid full attention to the Commander. "Emily Wong sent me a message after the Normandy took off from the Citadel." Liara took Shepard's hands into her own and held them possessively. "Thanks to your meticulous planning, the meeting with the Council was broadcasted on all major Council worlds. And to top it off, your exclusive interview with Emily Wong detailing the Battle Above Noveria was aired after her report of the Council meeting. Shepard, what can I ever do to repay you for what you did for my mother."

"You're here with me, aren't you?" Shepard gave the asari a big grin. "So what does Emily Wong want from you?"

"She knows we are going after Saren, and she asks me to update her on our progress. She knows you will be very busy and asked me instead. I agreed to share information that is not classified." Liara looked at Shepard for approval. "We may be facing the biggest threat the galaxy has ever seen, but most people do not even know it. Watching what you have achieved at the meeting with the Council, I think we need to take informing the public into our own hands."

"Wow, I'd never pegged you as such a renegade, Liara." Shepard smiled, "But I like your idea. People have the right to know."

The evening before the Normandy reached Ilos, something happened that had never happened on this ship, a very large banquet. Food was not squeezed out of old packages or vacuum storage crates. Every dish was made with fresh ingredients and hot off the stove or oven. The crew had put the tables in the mess hall into a long picnic table and lined up chairs and crates to form a long bench on either side of the table. It was an informal dinner, and regardless of rank, race or legion, everyone was in the same Normandy family.

Shepard was laughing at something Wrex was telling to her. "I was a bad ass ever since I was a pup. There was this kid from another tribe, his father was visiting with my father. He was a mean kid and always picked on me. So one day I talked him into walking with me outside of our compound to play. He proposed a competition to see who can toss grenades the furthest. The loser has to offer his favorite varren pet to the winner as a meal."

"I'm sure you won the competition, Wrex. I've seen your throwing arm." Shepard loved every story Wrex had shared with her.

"Well, I didn't always have it. I was very young and that kid was older than me and bigger. So he said we go on three. When he counted to three, I stuck a grenade in his pants and he took off running and screaming for someone to get the grenade off him."

Shepard laughed with her eyes wide open. "What happened then?"

"I won the game since he ran very far before the grenade exploded on his ass, and his grenade never left his hand." Wrex said casually.

"What happened to him?" Shepard was almost afraid to ask.

"He got hurt but recovered later. He didn't tell his father what happened because he was ashamed to have let a younger kid trick him." Wrex laughed, "He should have run into me and sat his ass on my face instead. Guess he wasn't that smart, his varren was tasty though."

Shepard laughed loudly again. Joker chimed in, "It always gets me when I think krogans can just regenerate like that." He was enjoying the mashed potatoes, "Wish I had some of those genes."

Liara was too busy asking Ashley what all these dishes were to pay attention to anyone else. Every time she asked Ashley about a dish, Ashley put some on Liara's plate, "You've gotta try this, it's grilled chicken. Oh, try this, it's beef roast."

Liara stared at the mushy stuff on Joker's plate, "And what is that?"

Ashley dropped a big serving spoon full of mashed potatoes on Liara's plate, "It's mashed potatoes, it's really good when it's fresh like this."

Liara was now staring at a heap of food in different colors and texture on her plate, and she was trying to decide which one to try first. Garrus put some long green stem-like things on her plate, "Try these, I love them. They're called asparagus. I've had them in one of the Earth food restaurants. They're really good." He was feeding Mimi small grilled chicken bits he has patiently cut for her, and the cat is chewing loudly sitting on the table between Garrus and Liara.

"Garrus, I thought you couldn't have human food." Tali asked as she drank the same specially purified dextro drinks as Garrus.

"They had to pulverize them for me and put dextro additives, but they still tasted delicious!" Garrus had never turned down a drink offered or a taste of non-turian food even if it meant he might have a rash the next day. "We don't get nutrition unless we eat turian food, but these taste really good. You should try them, Liara."

By the time Liara finished the food on her plate, she was completely stuffed but there were still so many kinds of dishes she hadn't tried. She turned to Shepard, "I had no idea there were so many kinds of dishes in Earth cuisine as I have not visited Earth or lived with humans before."

Shepard enjoyed watching Liara having so much fun. "Honey, you haven't seen anything yet. We have so many kinds of cuisines on Earth, many kinds of European cuisines, Mexican, Islanders, Chinese…we will have to try them when we visit Earth." Shepard talked loudly so that Liara could hear her across the table.

Joker put a hand up. "Wait a minute, did you just call her Honey?"

Shepard stopped herself and looked at Joker, "I did?"

"Yes, Commander. You most certainly did. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for it. Remind me to lend you a vid that I think you two will enjoy before, you know, doing it. It's called Vaenia." Shepard hit Joker with a pea.

Doctor Chakwas came over to Shepard with a bottle and a glass, "Commander, I would like to share a glass of Serrice Ice Brandy with you and thank you for such a wonderful feast." The doctor raised her glass.

Shepard turned around and let the doctor pour some brandy into her glass. "Well, we should thank Captain Anderson for this."

Dr. Chakwas nodded and smiled at Shepard, "Commander, any words of wisdom to share before we throw ourselves into the fire?"

Shepard thought for a moment and she stood up. Everyone stopped talking and turned their attention to their Commander. "Well, if there was any time to say something, I guess this is it." Shepard cleared her throat, "I know we haven't been together for long, but it feels like we're a big family already. We watch each other's backs in the field, we risk our own lives to protect one another, and we work, fight and bleed together, and that makes us a family on a spaceship." She couldn't help but feel a sense of pride.

"And the Normandy carries us through thick battles, holds us together when she is limping on one thruster with only one core working, she carries us even when nobody but us wants to go up against impossible odds because we know what's at stake here, and that makes her our home." Shepard looked at the faces around the table; feeling tears at the corners of her eyes. "Dr. Chakwas is right. We might be throwing ourselves into the toughest and fieriest battle any of us have ever seen. But we will get through it because we are stronger as one, and the Normandy will help us through it." Shepard raised her glass to eye level, "To victory!"

"To victory!" her crew bellowed in unison. Joker shouted, "And nobody touches the Normandy but me!" The crowd laughed.

Shepard took Liara's hand when most of the crew had left the table, "Would you like to spend the night with me?" She whispered to Liara. The asari had hoped Shepard would ask. When they left the table, Garrus, Wrex and Ashley were still playing a drinking game that nobody wanted to back out of.

Shepard walked to her cabin with Liara holding Mimi T'Soni in her arms. The cat had fallen into a deep food coma and she was sleeping soundly even when Liara put her down on Shepard's sofa.

Shepard and Liara took off their clothes and laid in bed in each other's arms. "Shepard, I wanted to tell you that I feel at peace even knowing what we are walking into. As long as I have you by my side, I am not afraid." Liara brushed her fingers lightly on Shepard's cheek.

Shepard felt content, and after thinking for a moment, she went to her drawer and pulled out the scarf Benezia had left with her to keep for Liara. She returned to bed and showed the asari the scarf. "Liara, I think it's time I gave you this."

Liara looked at the scarf, puzzled, "A scarf?"

"Your mother gave this to me on Noveria after you left. She asked me to give it to you when you're ready to receive it. I think you're ready." She handed the scarf to Liara, and watched her examine it.

"Shepard, please explain why my mother left me a scarf." Liara sat up in bed.

"It'd probably be better if I showed you." Shepard took Liara's hands and gave her a nod. Liara understood the offer and turned her eyes black and entered Shepard's mind.

_On top of the platform, Matriarch Benezia unfolded a piece of fabric that was the size of a small scarf from her sleeve and presented it to Shepard._

"_When Liara's sorrow from her loss lightens and she is fully under your protection, please give her this. This is from a shroud uncovered in a very ancient temple of our goddess. It holds immeasurable value to me as it's the only thing I have left of Liara's father."_

Liara's eyes suddenly returned to blue. Shocked by the news, she stared at Shepard, not knowing what to say. Then she looked at the scarf again in her hand. _This was my father's. She gave it to my mother, she must have loved my mother. Did she love me as well? Why did Benezia want nothing to do with my father?_ "Did…did my mother say her…my father's name?" Her voice was mere a whisper.

"I'm sorry. She didn't." The geth ships were at their doorsteps; there just wasn't time for that conversation. "I'm really sorry, Liara."

"No, Shepard. It was not your fault. My mother never wanted to tell me, I doubt she would have told you even if you had asked." Liara lowered her head remembering the old wound that probably would never heal now that Benezia was gone, as the true identity of her father might as well had vanished with her. "What if she, my father, is alive but does not want to know me?"

Shepard saw the deep sorrow in Liara's eyes, she wrapped her arms around the asari, pulled her close so that their bodies molded into each other. She cupped her hand on the asari's face. "How could anybody not want to know you? If your father knew just ten percent of who you are and what you've accomplished, she would love you and wish she'd never left."

"Shepard, you forget, I am a pureblood. My father may be ashamed of that, of me." Liara's tears started to fall.

Shepard kissed her face and wiped the tears away. "If she's that much of a jerk, when we find her, I'll pull her head out of her ass and make her look at how amazing you are. Well, I'll ask her to wash her face first."

Liara laughed through the tears. "IF we can find her."

"Nothing is impossible. You've helped me find Saren when nobody knew how." She let her suggestion sink in a little, "After we take down Saren, I'll help you find her, anyway I can. I promise." She kissed Liara on the cheek again where the tears were drying. "Let me show you something else."

"_Shepard, I could see that you care for my daughter." Matriarch Benezia tested._

"_Deeply." Shepard said without hesitation._

"_Do you wish to protect her under any circumstances?" The Matriarch wanted to be certain of this._

"_With every ounce of my being. I would give my own life to protect her." Shepard again responded quickly._

"_Would you stand by her side when she needs your strength?"_

"_Gladly."_

"_Would you make and keep her happy?"_

"_If I know any way to achieve that, I will do whatever it takes."_

"_Would you be willing to swear it?" the Matriarch pressed again._

"_On my honor as an Alliance Officer, a Spectre and as a human being."_

Both Benezia's persistence and Shepard's steadfast answers moved Liara deeply. She looked down at the scarf again and she couldn't help but let a flicker of hope shine through her mind. The love reflected in her mother's words for her and her father amplified that hope, and the usual hurt she felt when she thought about her father was greatly lessened. "Shepard, share another story about your father with me." Liara loved every story Shepard had told her about her father and grandmother. It had become the favorite topic of comfort for her.

"Haven't I told you everything about him already?" She settled against the pillows and invited Liara into her arm. "Well, have I told you how he showed me what flying feels like?"

Liara shook her head and smiled in anticipation. "I would like to hear that very much."

Shepard smiled back and she gave the asari a light kiss on her forehead. "As you know, I grew up on ships traveling through space at high speeds. When I was 6, we spent our shore leave with dad's family on Earth. He took me to a luscious meadow to show me the plants, bugs and his favorite hiding place when he was little. A shuttle flew over us, and I stared at it thinking it was going very fast. My dad asked me 'would you like to feel what flying feels like?' He put me over his shoulders so that I could sit up on top of him. He held my hands out like spreading wings and he started to run. When everything slows down and becomes blurry, you can only feel your face cutting through the wind and the smell of the meadow rushing into your nose…" Shepard shook her head, "There isn't anything that feels freer. All parents should do that with their 6-year old, I tell ya!"

Liara giggled at Shepard's delightful voice as she looked up at the human's face. It was flushed from the exciting memory and her lips were bright red. Liara could feel the warmth from the human's breath and the smile from those lips was mesmerizing. Liara leaned in and touched the red lips with her lush blue ones, and the Commander's words turned into moans that were most certainly not intelligible. Liara rolled on top of Shepard, she wanted to touch every inch of the human's body, starting with those red lips and making her way down. She wanted to explore every sensory input spot on the human not only based on the data she researched after their last union, but she wanted to find them on her own by observing Shepard's reactions to her lips and her tongue.

Shepard was happy to let Liara take the lead as she savored the reaction her own body made to every little tease until she couldn't stay still anymore. She held Liara's shoulders as her body shook from the pleasure and she raised her head to reach for the asari. But Liara had her own plans. She pushed Shepard back down, "Patience, Commander." She whispered and continued her tracks through the human's mid-section and onto the journey below.

"Liara, please!" Shepard begged in between deep breathing and sudden jolts of her body, reacting very strongly to Liara's merciless tongue and gentle teeth.

"Please what, Shepard?" Liara didn't stop her teasing.

"Please, please, just please." A small chuckle escaped Liara. She loved this moment and she didn't want it to end. As she replaced her tongue with her fingers, Shepard arched her back off the bed.

"Oh, god!" That earned a giggle from Liara.

She crawled up and whispered, "Embrace eternity."

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**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews and PMs. All comments, reviews, suggestions and PMs are welcome.


	26. Chapter 26 We Are Not Hanars

**In Love and War**

**Chapter Twenty Six – We Are Not Hanars**

"What do you mean we need to walk on the outside of the Citadel?" Tali couldn't believe what she was hearing. She hated spacewalking, her enviro-suit got tight when she spacewalked and that was not a good feeling. Shepard didn't like spacewalking either, but they had to get the Citadel's turret guns working and there were two groups of them located on either side of the structural arm, and that means she had to split the team into two squads.

Shepard walked over to Wrex, "I'm giving you Garrus and Tali. You'll show them what a real krogan Battlemaster can do, right?" She gave Wrex her hand, "I'll make Saren pay for what he did on Virmire when I see him, I swear to you!"

"Not if I see him first. I'll squash him like the pyjak he is. He may know other krogan Battlemasters but he hasn't seen the blood rage from Urdnot Wrex!" He took Shepard's arm and shook it roughly.

Shepard looked at Garrus, "Garrus, you watch Tali's back when she's hacking the guns, OK buddy?"

Garrus undocked his sniper rifle, "Shepard, you leave it to me. When this is all over with, first round's on me!"

Shepard gave him a big grin and she looked at Tali, "You'll be careful Tali and let Chiktikka do her magic, you hear me?"

Tali brought up her omni-tool, "Shepard, I'm giving you this hacking program. It should unlock all the security codes on the turret controls. Even you can hack it with this."

Shepard hugged Tali, "I love you too."

After Wrex moved his team out, Shepard held her helmet in one hand and grabbed Ashley's hand with another. "You know, the best thing that happened on Eden Prime is that I get to do this with YOU." Shepard initiated the long and complex Marine handshake that made Liara dizzy just watching them, and then Shepard and Ashley both spat into their palms and locked hands for the last part.

"What was that?" Liara tilted her head and asked.

"That's our oath to fight, to bleed and to die together." Ashley explained.

Liara nodded, "Oh, that is very sweet, but a little unsanitary." Ashley laughed and walked ahead to give her friends some space.

Shepard laughed at the asari's comment and held Liara's shoulder with one hand. "Liara, this is it. You ready?" Liara let herself get lost for a moment in Shepard's big smile, and then she leaned in and kissed Shepard's lips quickly, put her helmet on and ran after Ashley. Shepard had never had her heart melted before a tough battle. The feeling was incredible.

Ashley took point and shouted through her helmet, "Where do we go?" Before she could finish, three Geth Hunters uncloaked and started shooting rockets at them. "Never mind. We will just follow these guys."

As soon as they reached the first turret, Shepard got down and started her omni-tool. Ashley shouted while shooting at three geth machines advancing on her. "How long does this take?" Liara curled her arm and then pushed out a biotic warp so strong that one of the geth troopers went straight off the rail and disappeared out of view. "Holly mother of god!" Ashley yelled, "You go, Liara!" Liara smiled inside of her helmet and shot a singularity field at the other two Geth Troopers, Ashley took care of them with her rifle while they were floating in the air. A rocket exploded around them, lifting both into the air. Ashley landed on a flat platform and she rolled several times to her feet, but Liara wasn't so lucky. Her body hit a metal wall, knocking her out. Shepard saw both of her teammates flying through the air over her head as the turret guns turned on, she quickly pulled out her sniper rifle and searched for the Geth Rocket Trooper and took it out.

Both Shepard and Ashley rushed to Liara who was struggling to sit up. Shepard dropped down to her knees, "Are you hurt, Liara?" Ashley let Shepard help Liara and kept an eye on their surroundings. Liara stood up with Shepard's help, but took a sharp breath when she put her weight on her left leg. "Easy!" Shepard put the asari's arm around her shoulders, "Is it broken?" She asked.

"I do not believe so. I will be alright." She tried to take back her arm.

"Just give it a little time, okay? Pretend we are taking a nice walk in a park on the Presidium." Shepard walked with her slowly for a few steps.

"Only if you promise me we will actually take a nice walk together on the Presidium after this is over."

Shepard yelled inside of her helmet, "T'Soni! You're blackmailing me, now? Okay, I promise!" Shepard couldn't see Liara's full smile behind her helmet, but she could see her eyes sparkle.

"I am willing to forgo the spitting in your palm part seeing you are wearing a battle helmet."

Shepard shook her head, "No, you are not!" Then she proceeded to spit in her helmet.

Ashley heard it all through her helmet's open comm, "That's disgusting, Skipper! When this is all over, you two are getting a room and you can spit all you want."

True to his word, Wrex got to Saren before Shepard's squad. He charged him as the team surrounded the rogue Spectre. After they took him out, Shepard ran to stop the code Saren had uploaded on top of the podium in the Citadel Tower.

Wrex's voice boomed down below, "He's not much to look at after you kill him." But he spoke too soon, the dead Spectre came back to live and it took the entire team's firepower to take the husk of Saren down. Shepard shouted for her team to get clear as the tower came down. Liara was in shock when she saw large pieces of the broken ship crushing down on the Council tower, but she only had a second to look before Wrex and Garrus each grabbed her and took off running.

It seemed like an eternity before the dust settled and the noise stoped. Liara and Ashley could hear voices getting closer to their location. The large metal covering them moved away and light hit their eyes as they were shaking off the dust covering their bodies. Captain Anderson came into the view "Take it easy. You are safe. Where is the Commander?"

Ashley turned to look at Liara and Liara lifted her head to look at Ashley, they both jumped up at the same time, and stared at the rubble. Liara took off running toward where Shepard was, "Shepard!" She limped but kept running. Ashley ran after her but passed her with both good legs and started to move chunks of trash out of the way, "Skipper! Talk to me! Make some sound!"

Anderson directed the rescue party to help the Normandy crew to dig out the Commander. Liara used her biotics to move large pieces while shouting Shepard's name following Ashley's lead. They finally heard the reply they were desperately seeking, and Anderson motioned the medics to come with a stretcher. Shepard was pinned down by a piece of metal, her head had a gash and a sharp metal piece had impaled her left leg. Liara dropped down where Shepard was trapped and held Shepard's hand. "Goddess!" Liara was shaking, "Goddess, Shepard!" She wanted to say something to comfort the human, but all she could do was hold the human's hand while cradling her face.

"Shhh…I'm alright, Liara. I'm okay." Shepard tried to calm Liara, but her voice was only above whisper.

Outside of the Alliance hospital's surgical wing, the Normandy's crew was sitting in the waiting room. Even Joker had left the ship to find out the Commander's status. The surgery had gone on for over two hours. Pierce was walking around the room, checking the crew for minor injuries and treating them. Captain Anderson walked into the waiting room with Hannah Shepard in tow. Liara ran over and hugged Hannah, and Anderson walked over to Ashley to get an update.

Liara had held her tears on the way to the hospital, she didn't want to cry and worry Shepard, but the thought of losing Shepard rattled her. When she had thought she might lose Shepard on Virmire, she had felt sadness and loss. But this time, it was different. She couldn't even let herself imagine her life without Shepard. To never look at Shepard's big smile again, or hear her voice or hold her in her arms, it was unimaginable. She didn't let herself think that, she told herself Shepard would be okay. In Hannah's tight embrace, Liara couldn't stop her tears. Hannah let the poor girl cry for a while, and then took her to sit down, away from the others. "Liara, tell me what's going on."

Liara wiped her face with her sleeves and told Hannah about Shepard injuries. "And these are just the ones we could see. We are all waiting for the doctors to finish with the surgery."

When the door to the surgery rooms opened, the crowd stood up and gathered around the doctor. When the doctor took off her surgical mask and hood, Ashley called out, "Dr. Chakwas! When did you get here?"

Dr. Karen Chakwas was still stripping her surgery gear as she responded. "As soon as the Normandy docked, Captain Anderson sent an emergency vehicle to fetch me. You didn't think I'd like other doctors touch my kids, did you?" She updated the group about Shepard. They fixed the Commander's head wound that miraculously didn't cause any real damage to the brain, and repaired her leg that took the longest time as it was a large puncture. The Commander also had a couple of broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder and some cuts and bruises. "The worst is over. She is resting now and should recover fully." Dr. Chakwas smiled as the crew took their turns to hug her.

Liara asked, "When can we see her?"

Dr. Chakwas arranged a large room for the Commander to rest in where the also put another small bed, a table and chairs for visitors. Hannah had to leave after checking on her daughter who was sleeping peacefully after the surgery. "Sweetheart, I have to go back to my ship, we took some damage in the battle and they need me to oversee the repairs. But I will come by as often as I can. Would you take care of her for me?" Hannah asked Liara.

"You need not even ask, Hannah. I will see to her every need and restrain her if she tries to get out of the bed too soon. I am practiced at this already." Liara tried to put Hannah more at ease. "I will call to keep you updated. But I am certain she would love to see you as often as you can manage to come by."

Shepard woke up to a bright day and saw Liara sleeping in a chair with her head next to Shepard's hand. "Liara." Shepard's voice woke up Liara immediately.

"Shepard!" She got up from her chair, and she bent down and gave Shepard a light kiss on the lips. Shepard sighed slightly and tried to move, but Liara anticipated it as she put a hand on Shepard's shoulder, "I have promised both Hannah and Dr. Chakwas to make you behave. You are not well enough to move yet. So if you need anything I will bring it to you, Commander."

"How?" Shepard asked. It was hard for her not to be able to put her arms around Liara and hug her tightly.

"How what?" Liara's face was very close to Shepard's, so that she could hear the human's weak voice.

"How are you going to make me behave?" Shepard looked into Liara's eyes. She had not idea know how long she'd been out, but she knew she missed looking into these eyes.

Liara kissed Shepard's lips again and met Shepard's forehead with her own. "I have my ways." She smiled, "If you follow Dr. Chakwas' orders, I will reward you with that you most desire."

"Dr. Chakwas would not approve if you reward me with what I desire the most right now." Shepard smiled back.

Liara chuckled, "What is your deepest desire right now?"

Shepard closed her eyes and made a purring sound, "I would like to discover more stimulus spots on your body right now. I probably only know half of them, I don't think I had enough time."

Even though Liara blushed profusely, she couldn't help but tease the human. "You have not discovered half of them. It looks like you have a lot of work to do, Commander."

That made Shepard laugh, which led to a gasp. "Don't make me laugh, Liara, it hurts! You are supposed to make _me_ behave."

Liara laughed, "I am sorry. I will get you some water, I think that is enough discussion of desire for now."

After a week cooped up in bed, Shepard was ready to get back to duty. She had been walking around with Liara's help. She had access to a wheelchair and a crutch, but Liara refused to leave her side and insisted on being her 'asari crutch'. Shepard felt uneasy to burden Liara, but they both loved spending every minute together. They traded childhood stories; Shepard told Liara about the battle on Elysium, and Liara told Shepard about her last fight with her mother. They shared tears along with takeout food. Even though it was in the hospital, for Shepard and Liara, it was the best week they'd ever spent together. Hannah came by a couple of times to check on her daughter and she found Shepard in such good spirits even though her wounds were still serious. Liara indeed saw to every need her daughter had, and Hannah couldn't help but daydream what kind of asari baby clothes she could get her hands on.

Before Shepard checked out of the hospital, Hannah dropped off a room key to a nice hotel on the Citadel. Shepard had wanted to go back to the ship, she needed to get the repairs done and see to her crew. But Ashley refused to allow her back on the Normandy.

"Commander, I've got it covered. Tali and Adams are working with the Alliance and Council on the repairs and even some upgrades. We are giving the crew a whole week off. I've got things under the control and Garrus is taking care of Mimi T'Soni. You and Liara are not to come back until the shore leave is over. As acting captain of the Normandy, I issue you an order and put Liara in charge of your schedule. Chief Williams out!"

Shepard never thought she'd hear this from Ashley. She gave Liara a mocked defeated look, "Looks like I don't have access to my ship, my people, or even my own schedule. So Dr. T'Soni, what are your orders for me?"

Liara was packing up a bag to take all the gifts people left when they came and visited Shepard. She waved a box of chocolates, "Garrus says this is for both of us. We will open it as soon as we check into the hotel."

Shepard smiled, "He thinks he knows everything." She looked through the bag, and picked up a vid pad, "What's this?" She tapped a button, the vid title screen came on, "Vaenia". Shepard laughed, "This must be from Joker."

After they checked into the hotel, Liara put their bags down on the floor and opened the curtains while Shepard sat down on the loveseat. Her leg was still sore and her ribs were still giving her pain. Liara sat next to the human. "It is very nice of Hannah to provide us with this much privacy. I love being on the Normandy, but it is rather nice to have just you and me here." She pushed aside a strand of red hair hiding Shepard's eye.

"Believe me, my mother got the better end of the deal." Shepard smirked and reminded herself silently to thank her mother the next time she saw her.

"How so?" Liara blinked her blue eyes.

"She didn't do this just so we can relax, she did this so she can have grandchildren."

Liara blushed again. "You really believe that?" Shepard nodded with complete certainty. "Do you share her sentiment, Shepard?"

"Me? Don't you think I'm a little too young to be thinking about grandchildren?" Shepard teased. Liara punched her lightly on her arm. Shepard faked, "Ouch!"

Liara immediate held Shepard's shoulders, "Goddess, I am so sorry, Shepard! Did I hurt your ribs?"

Seeing Liara's mortified look, Shepard laughed, "I'm kidding you."

Liara huffed, "You will pay for that, Commander!" As she leaned in and started to punish the human with her lips someone knocked on the door.

Liara opened the door to a deliveryman with two large boxes. Shepard stood up from her seat and directed him to put the boxes down on the large table. Liara was more than surprised, and after the man left, she looked at the boxes and then at Shepard.

"Good! I was afraid they couldn't make it here in time before we leave." She took Liara's hand and walked to the table. She motioned Liara, "Open them." Liara opened the boxes to find two pairs of rollerblades in matching colors.

She laughed, "Shepard! You got us rollerblades? Your leg is not healed enough yet for roller derby matches."

Shepard chuckled a little, running her fingertips lightly on the shiny rollerblades. She pulled Liara closer and gave her a long kiss. "When you danced with me like we were floating in air that night, your face was as pretty as the most beautiful flower in existence. I promised myself I would take you dancing on rollerblades as often as I can because I can never get tired of that face and that smile." She pointed at the boxes, "These will ensure we can do it anytime we want."

Liara kissed Shepard back even longer.

Shepard added, "Beside, let's face it, I can't dance without the rollerblades anyway." Liara laughed, remembering Shepard's dance at Flux.

Liara insisted on getting Shepard's favorite pizza for dinner. Shepard loved the food but she hated to have Liara drive over there to pick it up. But Liara made Shepard take a nap while she explored the hotel and then picked up the pizza. When Shepard woke up from her nap, and found an excited asari returning with a large pizza box. "Shepard, you are not going to believe this!" Liara put the food box down, and came near the bed, "They have a gigantic swimming pool!" She motioned how large the pool was by spreading her arms.

Shepard laughed, "Yes, I can believe it. You like swimming, Liara?"

"Shepard, I am an asari. Of course I like swimming. It is not like in the ocean, but it is still huge!" She was so excited she started pulling Shepard's arm. "Come on, let us eat and then we can go swimming!"

It was very enchanting for Shepard to watch how much Liara loved the water. She swam like a fish and stayed under the water for so long that it had started to worry Shepard, even by asari standards. They even brought their pizza with them and hung out by the pool all evening. Luckily there were no other guests visiting the pool, so both Shepard and Liara slipped into the water without their clothes. Shepard's injured leg prevented her from swimming at full speed, but Liara wrapped her arm around the human and swam easily for the both of them.

"This is almost as good as rollerblading together." Shepard held on to Liara's shoulder.

Liara's face was shiny reflecting the water and she smiled widely. "When we swim, we open up certain parts of our bodies that are usually hidden in dry conditions. Some of these parts have the stimulus spots you referred to while you were in the hospital." With that, Liara let go of Shepard and sped away in the water. Shepard's jaw dropped and eyes widened, but before she could react to Liara's words, the asari already circled back and came up from behind the human.

"Liara, you're very bad!" Shepard turned around and searched Liara's body with her eyes. "You'd better show me, or I will be forced to tickle you!"

Liara laughed and took the human's waist and swam her to the shallow edge of the pool. "What would you do if I showed you every one of them?" She first tilted her head to reveal the side of her neck; Shepard needed no more invitation. She licked and sucked the spot until Liara arched her back in the water, holding onto the side of the pool with her hand. Shepard circled Liara's body in the water to move to the other side of her neck. As she slowly teased the spot with her lips, her warm breath made Liara's cool body vibrate a little. Liara quickly turned and met Shepard's lips with her own, and they locked onto each other for what it seemed like an eternity.

But Shepard broke the passionate kiss, "I want to discover more." She panted a little from the long kiss. "Don't you think we should retire to our room and continue our exploration?"

Before they made it back to their room, Shepard had discovered another spot on the asari while they were riding in the slow elevator. By the time they got back to their room, Liara could barely stand. They quickly stripped away each other's towels. Liara lied down in the large bed, holding the human in her arms. Shepard didn't even stop what she was doing with her mouth and her hands while moving to the bed. Liara would have chuckled at Shepard's eagerness if she weren't moaning. The sensation radiating from the bottom of her neck all the way down to between her legs was getting stronger and stronger. She wasn't sure if she should continue her "show and tell" Shepard's assault on her sensory inputs intensified, but the human was relentless. "Where is the next one?"

Liara gave in, but she bargained. "Shepard, I do not know how long I can last before…before…"

"Uh, huh." Shepard was too busy with all the new spots on the asari's body, discovering the new sounds the asari made when she did different things on the spots and how her own body reacted to even notice her injuries. "I wish I was a hanar!"

Shepard breathed out, and that made Liara laugh, "Why, Shepard?"

Shepard gave her partner a crocked grin, "I need more hands!"

Liara pulled the human up from her exploration of the asari's body, "You are doing just fine, Shepard, even when you are not a hanar."

"I'm glad you are not a hanar also." Shepard kissed Liara's lips.

"Why is that?" Liara returned her kisses.

"Because you wouldn't have so many sexy spots for me to explore." Both Shepard and Liara's bodies were shaking from laughter.

* * *

**A/N:** Thank you for sticking with this story. Please check out **Second Life**, the sequel that features Aethyta, Liara and some of the SR1 crew during the two years before Shepard's resurrection. It will continue to ME 2 timeline and include ME 2 characters as well as many OCs.


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